Is zakah obligatory on a building prepared for residence and a car prepared for riding?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The questioner asks: Is zakah obligatory on a building prepared for residence, and a car prepared for riding, especially if a person has more than one car?
The Shaykh : No. There is no zakah on cars prepared for riding or for hire, or on buildings prepared for residence or for hire. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)Sahih Muslim 982a
However, if the buildings are rented out, then zakah is due on their rent, provided that a full year has passed since the contract.
So, if we assume that the rent for this building is fifty thousand, starting from Muharram of the year sixteen, and then he receives it in Muharram of the year seventeen, is zakah obligatory on him or not?
Zakah is obligatory on him because the period for zakah has been completed. However, if he receives the zakah in two installments—half in advance and half in the middle of the year—but he spends the rent as he receives it, so that a full lunar year does not pass over it, then zakah is dropped from him. For example, if he rented it out for one hundred thousand and received fifty thousand at the time of the contract, then spent it all, and then received the other fifty thousand at the end of six months and spent it before the year of the lease was completed, then this man owes no zakah, because the lunar year was not completed.
And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the rent is like the fruit, and that whoever receives the rent must pay its zakah immediately, even if the lunar year has not been completed. His statement is strong. According to this opinion, if he receives fifty thousand at the time of the contract and fifty thousand at the end of six months, he pays zakah.
Or does he not pay zakah? He pays zakah because he received the rent. But it may be said that the advance rent is subject to being voided, because if the benefit cannot be obtained before the end of the period, the rent is voided, unlike the rent that was due at the end. In any case, the scholars differ on this issue. So whoever takes the precaution and pays zakah on the rent, even before the completion of the year, is doing what is best.
The Shaykh : No. There is no zakah on cars prepared for riding or for hire, or on buildings prepared for residence or for hire. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Allah's Messsenger (ﷺ) as saying: No Sadaqa is due from a Muslim on his slave or horse.
صلى الله عليه وسلم ليس على المسلم في عبده ولا فرسه صدقة.However, if the buildings are rented out, then zakah is due on their rent, provided that a full year has passed since the contract.
So, if we assume that the rent for this building is fifty thousand, starting from Muharram of the year sixteen, and then he receives it in Muharram of the year seventeen, is zakah obligatory on him or not?
Zakah is obligatory on him because the period for zakah has been completed. However, if he receives the zakah in two installments—half in advance and half in the middle of the year—but he spends the rent as he receives it, so that a full lunar year does not pass over it, then zakah is dropped from him. For example, if he rented it out for one hundred thousand and received fifty thousand at the time of the contract, then spent it all, and then received the other fifty thousand at the end of six months and spent it before the year of the lease was completed, then this man owes no zakah, because the lunar year was not completed.
And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the rent is like the fruit, and that whoever receives the rent must pay its zakah immediately, even if the lunar year has not been completed. His statement is strong. According to this opinion, if he receives fifty thousand at the time of the contract and fifty thousand at the end of six months, he pays zakah.
Or does he not pay zakah? He pays zakah because he received the rent. But it may be said that the advance rent is subject to being voided, because if the benefit cannot be obtained before the end of the period, the rent is voided, unlike the rent that was due at the end. In any case, the scholars differ on this issue. So whoever takes the precaution and pays zakah on the rent, even before the completion of the year, is doing what is best.
Source
اللقاءات الرمضانية لعام 1416هـ - 3 — binothaimeen.net (59:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.