Zakah on Wealth and Its Increase
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Fatwa No. ( 15605 )
Q: You know, may Allah preserve you, that one of the conditions for the obligation of paying zakah on wealth—gold, silver, merchandise, and livestock—is that a lunar year must pass over it. There is no dispute regarding this matter. The issue arises with wealth added to that wealth which had a lunar year pass over it during the course of that year. Is zakah obligatory on it based on the original capital or not? I hope
you will clarify this issue, taking care to mention the evidence, may Allah preserve you; because the statements of some of our scholars at this time regarding the non-obligation of zakah on that wealth have confused us, contrary to what we knew from the books of jurisprudence regarding the obligation of zakah on it. Also, there is great hardship in obliging people to pay zakah throughout the year, where they pay zakah on the first wealth, then on what they added after that, and so on. And this addition may occur over the months and days of that lunar year. Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as we know from his biography, did not send zakah collectors except once a year, repeating this over the years. If the matter were as our scholars who said it is not obligatory stated, it would have been obligatory for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to inform about it due to the widespread prevalence of the issue, and delaying clarification until the time of need is not permissible. This is the first point. As for the second: it would have been obligatory for him (peace and blessings be upon him) to send zakah collectors throughout the lunar year, monthly, for everything that had a lunar year pass over it, for the added wealth, and to take zakah from the Muslims. We ask for clarification of this
A : If a person has zakatable wealth and adds to it another zakatable wealth before the completion of the lunar year, he is not free from one of two cases. The first case: that the added wealth is profit from trade, in which case its lunar year is the lunar year of its original capital, so he pays zakah on the whole when the lunar year of the capital is completed. Likewise, if the added wealth is the offspring of grazing livestock, the lunar year of the offspring is the lunar year of the original.
The second case: that the added wealth is not profit from trade nor offspring of grazing livestock, but rather independent wealth, such as an employee who saves an amount from his salary every month. In this case, zakah is not obligatory on each amount until a lunar year has passed over it, provided that it reaches the nisab or more. However, if it is difficult for him to consider a lunar year for each amount, he pays the zakah of the whole at one time, and the zakah of that which has not completed its lunar year is paid early. Then, when this time comes in the following year, he pays the zakah of the whole, and so on. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: You know, may Allah preserve you, that one of the conditions for the obligation of paying zakah on wealth—gold, silver, merchandise, and livestock—is that a lunar year must pass over it. There is no dispute regarding this matter. The issue arises with wealth added to that wealth which had a lunar year pass over it during the course of that year. Is zakah obligatory on it based on the original capital or not? I hope
you will clarify this issue, taking care to mention the evidence, may Allah preserve you; because the statements of some of our scholars at this time regarding the non-obligation of zakah on that wealth have confused us, contrary to what we knew from the books of jurisprudence regarding the obligation of zakah on it. Also, there is great hardship in obliging people to pay zakah throughout the year, where they pay zakah on the first wealth, then on what they added after that, and so on. And this addition may occur over the months and days of that lunar year. Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as we know from his biography, did not send zakah collectors except once a year, repeating this over the years. If the matter were as our scholars who said it is not obligatory stated, it would have been obligatory for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to inform about it due to the widespread prevalence of the issue, and delaying clarification until the time of need is not permissible. This is the first point. As for the second: it would have been obligatory for him (peace and blessings be upon him) to send zakah collectors throughout the lunar year, monthly, for everything that had a lunar year pass over it, for the added wealth, and to take zakah from the Muslims. We ask for clarification of this
A : If a person has zakatable wealth and adds to it another zakatable wealth before the completion of the lunar year, he is not free from one of two cases. The first case: that the added wealth is profit from trade, in which case its lunar year is the lunar year of its original capital, so he pays zakah on the whole when the lunar year of the capital is completed. Likewise, if the added wealth is the offspring of grazing livestock, the lunar year of the offspring is the lunar year of the original.
The second case: that the added wealth is not profit from trade nor offspring of grazing livestock, but rather independent wealth, such as an employee who saves an amount from his salary every month. In this case, zakah is not obligatory on each amount until a lunar year has passed over it, provided that it reaches the nisab or more. However, if it is difficult for him to consider a lunar year for each amount, he pays the zakah of the whole at one time, and the zakah of that which has not completed its lunar year is paid early. Then, when this time comes in the following year, he pays the zakah of the whole, and so on. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.