Zakah on a teacher's wealth for past years and the mother paying it on her behalf
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I am a teacher who owns some wealth, as I receive a salary for teaching. It has now been four years, and from the moment I first received my salary, I have been accustomed to spending on my family. The largest portion goes to my mother, then my father, then my grandmother, and some goes to charitable works each month. I save the rest for myself. However, when I wanted to pay the zakah on it, my mother told me that she would pay it from her own money and that this would suffice. In reality, she does not know how much wealth I currently possess. Now, four years have passed since I acquired this wealth, so I am confused: is zakah obligatory on me or not? And how do I pay the zakah for the past four years?
Answer:
You are rewarded for your spending on your mother, your father, your grandmother, and in the causes of good. May Allah reward you with good and accept from us and from you. As for what concerns the zakah, your mother paying it on your behalf does not suffice, because you did not appoint her as your agent to pay it. If she pays it on your behalf without your permission, she is acting presumptuously in that, but it does not count as fulfilling the zakah obligation except by your appointment of her as your agent regarding the wealth you possess. You must pay the zakah on the wealth you possess for the four years, if it has reached the nisab (minimum threshold for zakah). You pay it for the four years: for the first year, the amount of the wealth; for the second year, likewise; for the third year, and so on. You pay the zakah on all the wealth at the rate of twenty-five out of every one thousand, twenty-five out of every one thousand. This is the obligation: you pay twenty-five out of every one thousand, fifty out of two thousand, and seventy-five out of three thousand, and so on. All of it.
I am a teacher who owns some wealth, as I receive a salary for teaching. It has now been four years, and from the moment I first received my salary, I have been accustomed to spending on my family. The largest portion goes to my mother, then my father, then my grandmother, and some goes to charitable works each month. I save the rest for myself. However, when I wanted to pay the zakah on it, my mother told me that she would pay it from her own money and that this would suffice. In reality, she does not know how much wealth I currently possess. Now, four years have passed since I acquired this wealth, so I am confused: is zakah obligatory on me or not? And how do I pay the zakah for the past four years?
Answer:
You are rewarded for your spending on your mother, your father, your grandmother, and in the causes of good. May Allah reward you with good and accept from us and from you. As for what concerns the zakah, your mother paying it on your behalf does not suffice, because you did not appoint her as your agent to pay it. If she pays it on your behalf without your permission, she is acting presumptuously in that, but it does not count as fulfilling the zakah obligation except by your appointment of her as your agent regarding the wealth you possess. You must pay the zakah on the wealth you possess for the four years, if it has reached the nisab (minimum threshold for zakah). You pay it for the four years: for the first year, the amount of the wealth; for the second year, likewise; for the third year, and so on. You pay the zakah on all the wealth at the rate of twenty-five out of every one thousand, twenty-five out of every one thousand. This is the obligation: you pay twenty-five out of every one thousand, fifty out of two thousand, and seventy-five out of three thousand, and so on. All of it.
Source
ندوات الجامع الكبير مع الأسئلة - 74 — archive.org (1:01:01)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.