The zakah of stolen or lost wealth
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : A man says: Someone stole his wealth, and then he found this wealth after several years. How does he pay the zakah of this wealth at the present time?
Answer : He owes no zakah. If stolen wealth is in the possession of a person from whom you are unable to recover it, there is no zakah on it. Likewise, if wealth is lost—for example, if your money is lost and remains so for years, and then you find it—there is no zakah on it for the time that has passed. The rule is that any wealth over which you have no control is not subject to zakah. Any wealth over which you have no control is not subject to zakah, such as lost wealth, wealth denied by its holder, wealth stolen from someone from whom you cannot take it back, and the like.
Answer : He owes no zakah. If stolen wealth is in the possession of a person from whom you are unable to recover it, there is no zakah on it. Likewise, if wealth is lost—for example, if your money is lost and remains so for years, and then you find it—there is no zakah on it for the time that has passed. The rule is that any wealth over which you have no control is not subject to zakah. Any wealth over which you have no control is not subject to zakah, such as lost wealth, wealth denied by its holder, wealth stolen from someone from whom you cannot take it back, and the like.
Source
اللقاءات الرمضانية لعام 1415هـ - 5 — binothaimeen.net (38:30)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.