Zakah on Shares in Companies
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The presenter:
We will take a call from Khalid in Riyadh. Go ahead, Khalid.
The questioner:
Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh:
Peace be upon you.
The presenter:
May Allah grant you success and blessings.
The questioner:
I have three questions, may you live long. The first question is regarding me: I own shares in some companies. At the end of the year, do they pay zakah or not? And regarding the shares, do I have to repeat the zakah on these shares?
The presenter:
Listen to the answer for a moment.
The Shaykh:
What kind of shares are these? Are they fixed shares, or are they shares that are not fixed, meaning they are bought and sold?
The questioner:
No, they do not increase; they are fixed, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
How are they fixed?
The questioner:
I mean, we do not hold them for a period of five years; no one has anything in them. I mean, I have a letter from the management regarding the financial matters.
The presenter:
Listen to the answer.
The questioner:
Companies that leave this investment for two or three years, and nothing happens in them.
The Shaykh:
If the company pays zakah on behalf of the shareholders, then there is no harm. But if it does not pay zakah, then each person pays zakah on his shares when the year is completed, because they are like trade goods: he values them at what they are worth and pays zakah on them.
We will take a call from Khalid in Riyadh. Go ahead, Khalid.
The questioner:
Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh:
Peace be upon you.
The presenter:
May Allah grant you success and blessings.
The questioner:
I have three questions, may you live long. The first question is regarding me: I own shares in some companies. At the end of the year, do they pay zakah or not? And regarding the shares, do I have to repeat the zakah on these shares?
The presenter:
Listen to the answer for a moment.
The Shaykh:
What kind of shares are these? Are they fixed shares, or are they shares that are not fixed, meaning they are bought and sold?
The questioner:
No, they do not increase; they are fixed, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
How are they fixed?
The questioner:
I mean, we do not hold them for a period of five years; no one has anything in them. I mean, I have a letter from the management regarding the financial matters.
The presenter:
Listen to the answer.
The questioner:
Companies that leave this investment for two or three years, and nothing happens in them.
The Shaykh:
If the company pays zakah on behalf of the shareholders, then there is no harm. But if it does not pay zakah, then each person pays zakah on his shares when the year is completed, because they are like trade goods: he values them at what they are worth and pays zakah on them.
Source
فتاوى على الهواء 23-03-1436هـ — af.org.sa (25:46)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.