A colleague of mine pays out two and a half percent of any amount that comes to him as zakah on wealth, and he does this before he spends anything from that money.
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The questioner : A colleague of mine pays out two and a half percent of any amount that comes to him as zakah on wealth, and he does this before he spends anything from that money. Does this exempt him from the prescribed zakah on the wealth that reaches the end of the lunar year later? And naturally, what he pays out is much more than this percentage, because by doing so he pays out from what he needs and what is in excess in advance?
The Shaykh : Zakah is not obligatory unless the lunar year has completed for it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : When the lunar year has completed, a person counts what he has and pays his zakah. If it is trade goods or currency, he pays one-quarter of a tenth, meaning two and a half percent. He divides what he has by forty, and the result of the division is the obligatory amount in zakah. However, trade profit is an exception; the completion of the lunar year is not required for it. If a person buys a property for ten thousand riyals for trade, and its value remains at that level, and then after eleven months its value rises to fifteen thousand, he must pay zakah on fifteen thousand riyals, even if only one month has passed for this profit.
The questioner : The lunar year is for the principal.
The Shaykh : The lunar year is for the principal in trade profit, and likewise for the offspring of grazing livestock. If a person has grazing livestock that produce offspring which changes the nisab, the completion of the lunar year is not required for them. Here is an issue that confuses many people: those who receive salaries in installments. How do they pay zakah? Some people say: If I consider the zakah for each month separately, it is difficult for me because it is hard for me to calculate it. What should I do? We say: The best thing is that when the lunar year has completed for the first month, the first salary you received, when the lunar year has completed from the first month you received the salary in, you pay the zakah on everything you have. For what has completed its lunar year, you have paid its zakah in that year, and for what has not completed its lunar year, its zakah has been paid in advance. There is no harm in paying zakah in advance. In this way, you will be at ease. You designate a specific month, which is the first month in which the lunar year completed from the first salary, and whenever that month comes around, you pay the zakah on what you have, so that you are relieved from having to calculate each month separately. Yes.
The Shaykh : Zakah is not obligatory unless the lunar year has completed for it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : When the lunar year has completed, a person counts what he has and pays his zakah. If it is trade goods or currency, he pays one-quarter of a tenth, meaning two and a half percent. He divides what he has by forty, and the result of the division is the obligatory amount in zakah. However, trade profit is an exception; the completion of the lunar year is not required for it. If a person buys a property for ten thousand riyals for trade, and its value remains at that level, and then after eleven months its value rises to fifteen thousand, he must pay zakah on fifteen thousand riyals, even if only one month has passed for this profit.
The questioner : The lunar year is for the principal.
The Shaykh : The lunar year is for the principal in trade profit, and likewise for the offspring of grazing livestock. If a person has grazing livestock that produce offspring which changes the nisab, the completion of the lunar year is not required for them. Here is an issue that confuses many people: those who receive salaries in installments. How do they pay zakah? Some people say: If I consider the zakah for each month separately, it is difficult for me because it is hard for me to calculate it. What should I do? We say: The best thing is that when the lunar year has completed for the first month, the first salary you received, when the lunar year has completed from the first month you received the salary in, you pay the zakah on everything you have. For what has completed its lunar year, you have paid its zakah in that year, and for what has not completed its lunar year, its zakah has been paid in advance. There is no harm in paying zakah in advance. In this way, you will be at ease. You designate a specific month, which is the first month in which the lunar year completed from the first salary, and whenever that month comes around, you pay the zakah on what you have, so that you are relieved from having to calculate each month separately. Yes.