Some women resort to selling or exchanging their gold during these days and the month of Sha'ban to escape the zakat on jewelry for which the lunar year has elapsed.

The questioner : A female questioner says, "May your excellence...The Shaykh : Some women resort to selling or exchanging their gold during these days and the month of Sha'ban to escape the zakat on jewelry for which the lunar year has elapsed in Ramadan. Is there any advice or guidance?

The Shaykh : Yes. The advice is that we must know that stratagems in the Islamic Shari'ah are invalid, whether these stratagems are for dropping an obligatory duty or for committing a forbidden act. They are all invalid. The one who resorts to stratagems resembles the most wretched of Allah's servants, who are they? The Jews. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . The one who resorts to stratagems against Allah is playing with Allah, may Allah protect us, and is mocking Allah. . And despite this, whoever resorts to stratagems to drop an obligatory duty, it is not dropped, and he will be held accountable for it before Allah. And whoever resorts to stratagems regarding the prohibitions of Allah, they do not become permissible, and he will be punished for this sin. So beware, beware of stratagems! You are not dealing with anyone but the One who knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal. And we say: Suppose a woman sold her jewelry in Sha'ban or Rajab to escape the obligation of zakat on her in Ramadan. Then the zakat becomes obligatory on her in Ramadan on the new jewelry, because it is a substitute for that on which zakat is obligatory. Have you seen if a person has, for example, dirhams of silver, and then sells them a month or two before Ramadan, converting them into dinars? Does the zakat become obligatory on the dinars in Ramadan, or do we say until the lunar year is completed? It becomes obligatory in Ramadan. So stratagems do not drop the obligatory duty, and I have not heard anyone say what came in this question about this stratagem. Yes. Yes, I hear some people saying: There is no zakat on a woman's jewelry, and this is a well-known disagreement from ancient times. But the believer must refer the disagreement to whom? To whom, my brothers? To Allah and His Messenger. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: . And He the Mighty and Majestic said: . And it has not come in the Qur'an or the Sunnah that there is never any zakat on a woman's jewelry. And whoever finds something of that, let him help us with it. Rather, the texts are general regarding the obligation of zakat on gold and silver. Like the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . There is no text that says: There is no zakat on a woman's jewelry. And the analogy with clothes is wrong. There is no zakat on a garment. If a person had a thousand garments, there would be no zakat on them. And the analogy of jewelry with clothes is wrong.
First: Because it is an analogy in opposition to a text, and every analogy in opposition to a text is what? It is defective and invalid.
And second: Because the analogy does not hold, because the original ruling for gold and silver is the obligation of zakat. And the original ruling for clothes and the like is the absence of obligation.
And third: Those who say there is no obligation said: If a woman prepared gold for rent to lease it out, then there is zakat in it. And if a person made many clothes for rent, there is no zakat in them. So the analogy is not correct. And praise be to Allah. How much is the zakat? How much is the zakat on jewelry? A quarter of a tenth, meaning: . This does not harm the person. If it is obligatory in the religion of Allah, he has fulfilled what is upon him and cleared his conscience. And if it is not obligatory, it is voluntary. . And by Allah, each one of us will wish after death that he had given charity with a single dirham, because all the dead wish that there were an increase of one good deed in their good deeds. And charity is among the best of deeds. Yes.