A man contracted marriage with a woman for forty thousand Saudi riyals, and the lunar year of possession and the bridal gift were with her, so she paid zakah on it and gave out one thousand riyals as zakah on his behalf.

The questioner : A man contracted marriage with a woman for forty thousand Saudi riyals, and the lunar year of possession and the bridal gift were with her. Then she paid zakah on it and gave out one thousand riyals as zakah on his behalf. Then he divorced her before consummation. Does the husband get back the full twenty thousand riyals, or is half the zakah deducted from his share so that the zakah is on both the husband and the wife, or what?

The Shaykh : There is scholarly disagreement among the scholars regarding this issue. Some said that the zakah is on everyone, because half of it belongs to her and the other half belongs to him. Others said that it is on the wife only, because she is the one upon whom the zakah settled before the mahr was halved. So as long as the zakah settled upon her before the mahr was halved, the zakah is on her alone. And the husband is given the full half of the mahr. In such a situation, the two spouses should reconcile. And zakah is not a burden, so if it is deducted from the husband's share, it will not harm him in any way. Yes.
That is, if only the amount of his zakah is deducted from the husband's share and the amount of her zakah is deducted from the wife's share, that would be good. Yes.