The first thing is that we introduce ourselves, of course. The Shaykh: Go ahead, the questioner.
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The questioner : The first thing is that we introduce ourselves, of course.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Mahmoud Atiya, a resident of al-Taj, and my brother Zakariya from Chad. Regarding zakah, if the funds available are not liquid cash but consist of goods or post-dated checks.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, or checks, what?
The questioner : Post-dated checks.
The Shaykh : Post-dated checks, you mean debts.
The questioner : Yes, but usually they are paid on their due dates, because I have a business and large amounts accumulate with me in post-dated checks. These have due dates. In addition to that, there are goods that are not always available, which do not become liquid cash for me. How do I calculate the zakah? Do I calculate it on the profits, or...
The Shaykh : Do you calculate it on what?
The questioner : On the annual profits.
The Shaykh : The profits, yes, wait a moment.
The questioner : Is it permissible for me to calculate it on the profits, or is it permissible to calculate it as an estimate based on the existing machinery and equipment?
The Shaykh : There is no zakah on the machinery and equipment. The important thing is what you mentioned regarding what you called checks and the trade goods you do not have. But before answering these two matters, is it reasonable that a merchant like you would not have, for example, one thousand dinars in the cash box?
The questioner : It is always there, our master, not less than ten thousand dinars.
The Shaykh : Well, if so, why do you say you have no liquidity?
The questioner : No, what I mean is that most of the money...
The Shaykh : I understand what you mean, but you must understand what I mean. If it is not necessary, you must have liquidity in the cash box, and not just one thousand dinars as I asked you, but thousands upon thousands, as you said, correct?
The questioner : Yes, but it increases and decreases, our master.
The Shaykh : That is not my concern. Because when you say it increases and decreases, does a time pass where you do not have one thousand dinars in the cash box for a full year?
The questioner : It is possible, but not certain, of course.
The Shaykh : No, this possibility...
The questioner : No...
The Shaykh : Be patient. Your answer must be, at least, based on the stronger probability. For example, if someone is asked, "What is your opinion of so-and-so, is he truthful in his speech or a liar?" You do not say he is truthful in the sense that revelation comes down to him, but rather that it is the stronger probability, correct?
The questioner : The stronger probability.
The Shaykh : The stronger probability. And all transactions are based on the stronger probability. So when you say "possible," yes, that is what we said: so-and-so is truthful, though it is possible he is not. But what is the stronger probability? That he is truthful. So now, does it not seem more likely to you that the ten thousand or thirty thousand you say are in the cash box, that at least one thousand of it remains until the lunar year passes, from Ramadan to Ramadan, from Muharram to Muharram? Does it seem more likely to you or not?
The questioner : Yes, my master.
The Shaykh : Well, from here we can proceed to answer your first two questions.
First, regarding the checks, as I said, I understand them to be debts whose payment is due on a specific date. Now, in order to educate you in the religion, and although I could simply tell you "this and that" and be done with it, I want to show you the reasoning. The scholars divide the debts people have into two categories: one they call a "living debt" and the other a "dead debt." By a living debt, they mean one that the creditor hopes to recover, and the opposite is the case for a dead debt, which is one where the hope of recovery has been cut off for one reason or another. For example, if the debtor has fallen into extreme poverty, and every time he is asked, he says, "By Allah, I cannot, I have nothing, I have nothing," and so on. Or if he is a stubborn denier, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There are people who do this, correct or not?
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Therefore, creditors and debtors sometimes get into disputes, lawsuits, and court cases, and so on. Now, the debt that is recorded in checks, in my opinion, and you know better, falls under the first category, i.e., the living debt, correct?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the money you have in the cash box, it is sufficient that you have one nisab, not multiple nisabs. The nisab varies, of course, with the rise and fall in the value of gold. So today it is approximately seven hundred to eight hundred dinars. If the lunar year passes and you have a nisab, and let us assume the year started from Muharram to Muharram, the fact that the second Muharram has entered means the lunar year has passed on this nisab. As for the rest, as you said, it may decrease and increase, that is fine.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : When the new lunar year enters and the old one has passed, you need to look at what you have in the cash box and pay the zakah on everything that is in the cash box. Is that clear up to here?
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Yes, and you need to look at the debts people owe you, add them to the money you have in the cash box, and pay two and a half percent on the total. And thus we are done with this.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Good, what is left for us? What is left is trade goods. For example, what type of trade do you do?
The questioner : I distribute furniture to showroom owners.
The Shaykh : Furniture.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : For example, sofas.
The questioner : Sofas, bedroom sets, and things like that.
The Shaykh : Good. These trade goods are called "trade goods" by the scholars. The scholars have two schools of thought on this. The well-known school among the scholars is that trade goods are assessed at the end of each year at their current value. After this assessment, it is as if these goods have been converted into liquidity. For example, if your goods are worth ten thousand, you assume you have ten thousand in liquidity and pay two and a half percent on them, as we said regarding the first type of wealth. This is the first school. The second school holds that there is no specific zakah on trade goods, but rather a general zakah. What does "general zakah" mean? It means the one paying zakah gives from these goods what pleases his believing soul, without a fixed percentage. For currency, it is known to be two and a half percent, but here there is no specific percentage; rather, it is what pleases the soul of the one paying zakah. Sometimes trade goods, as you said earlier, may have been purchased at a high price. In that case, the owner of these goods looks at his trade; if it is extensive, what he pays may not be worth a thousand, even if the value is a thousand, because it is little for him since his goods, praise be to Allah, are in the thousands. Or he may be a man of modest means who does not have that extensive wealth. So each of these merchants, the owners of trade goods, gives from these goods what corresponds to their financial situation, i.e., their wealth. If he does that, he has fulfilled the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:103] It happened in the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that merchants from Sham came to Madinah, merchants of horses, and they offered to 'Umar to take their zakah from them. 'Umar said: Meaning, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and those companions are not like us today. Unfortunately, today we try to get rid of zakah by any means, and by what they call "legal tricks." It has even reached the point where some of them get rid of zakah on thousands upon thousands of dinars a day or two before the lunar year passes by giving the money to their wife in this way, so the lunar year does not pass, correct?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : After two or three days, he retrieves this money and is free from zakah. It is a clear trick they call a "legal trick." Far be it from us, this is a "devilish trick." Its purpose is to oppose His saying:[Al-Ma'arij 70:24-25] So these merchants who came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and asked him to take the zakah of the horses, he excused himself and said: It is not zakah. So he took from them, I don't know how many heads of horses, and added them to the treasury of the Muslims, and their hearts were pleased. So the merchant, whatever type of trade he does, gives from his trade what pleases his soul, and he purifies himself as Allah said: This is the answer regarding trade goods. I hope you have received the answer to everything you asked.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : And is there anything else? Yes.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Mahmoud Atiya, a resident of al-Taj, and my brother Zakariya from Chad. Regarding zakah, if the funds available are not liquid cash but consist of goods or post-dated checks.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, or checks, what?
The questioner : Post-dated checks.
The Shaykh : Post-dated checks, you mean debts.
The questioner : Yes, but usually they are paid on their due dates, because I have a business and large amounts accumulate with me in post-dated checks. These have due dates. In addition to that, there are goods that are not always available, which do not become liquid cash for me. How do I calculate the zakah? Do I calculate it on the profits, or...
The Shaykh : Do you calculate it on what?
The questioner : On the annual profits.
The Shaykh : The profits, yes, wait a moment.
The questioner : Is it permissible for me to calculate it on the profits, or is it permissible to calculate it as an estimate based on the existing machinery and equipment?
The Shaykh : There is no zakah on the machinery and equipment. The important thing is what you mentioned regarding what you called checks and the trade goods you do not have. But before answering these two matters, is it reasonable that a merchant like you would not have, for example, one thousand dinars in the cash box?
The questioner : It is always there, our master, not less than ten thousand dinars.
The Shaykh : Well, if so, why do you say you have no liquidity?
The questioner : No, what I mean is that most of the money...
The Shaykh : I understand what you mean, but you must understand what I mean. If it is not necessary, you must have liquidity in the cash box, and not just one thousand dinars as I asked you, but thousands upon thousands, as you said, correct?
The questioner : Yes, but it increases and decreases, our master.
The Shaykh : That is not my concern. Because when you say it increases and decreases, does a time pass where you do not have one thousand dinars in the cash box for a full year?
The questioner : It is possible, but not certain, of course.
The Shaykh : No, this possibility...
The questioner : No...
The Shaykh : Be patient. Your answer must be, at least, based on the stronger probability. For example, if someone is asked, "What is your opinion of so-and-so, is he truthful in his speech or a liar?" You do not say he is truthful in the sense that revelation comes down to him, but rather that it is the stronger probability, correct?
The questioner : The stronger probability.
The Shaykh : The stronger probability. And all transactions are based on the stronger probability. So when you say "possible," yes, that is what we said: so-and-so is truthful, though it is possible he is not. But what is the stronger probability? That he is truthful. So now, does it not seem more likely to you that the ten thousand or thirty thousand you say are in the cash box, that at least one thousand of it remains until the lunar year passes, from Ramadan to Ramadan, from Muharram to Muharram? Does it seem more likely to you or not?
The questioner : Yes, my master.
The Shaykh : Well, from here we can proceed to answer your first two questions.
First, regarding the checks, as I said, I understand them to be debts whose payment is due on a specific date. Now, in order to educate you in the religion, and although I could simply tell you "this and that" and be done with it, I want to show you the reasoning. The scholars divide the debts people have into two categories: one they call a "living debt" and the other a "dead debt." By a living debt, they mean one that the creditor hopes to recover, and the opposite is the case for a dead debt, which is one where the hope of recovery has been cut off for one reason or another. For example, if the debtor has fallen into extreme poverty, and every time he is asked, he says, "By Allah, I cannot, I have nothing, I have nothing," and so on. Or if he is a stubborn denier, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Delaying the payment of a wealthy person is injustice.
مطل الغني ظلمThe questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Therefore, creditors and debtors sometimes get into disputes, lawsuits, and court cases, and so on. Now, the debt that is recorded in checks, in my opinion, and you know better, falls under the first category, i.e., the living debt, correct?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the money you have in the cash box, it is sufficient that you have one nisab, not multiple nisabs. The nisab varies, of course, with the rise and fall in the value of gold. So today it is approximately seven hundred to eight hundred dinars. If the lunar year passes and you have a nisab, and let us assume the year started from Muharram to Muharram, the fact that the second Muharram has entered means the lunar year has passed on this nisab. As for the rest, as you said, it may decrease and increase, that is fine.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : When the new lunar year enters and the old one has passed, you need to look at what you have in the cash box and pay the zakah on everything that is in the cash box. Is that clear up to here?
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Yes, and you need to look at the debts people owe you, add them to the money you have in the cash box, and pay two and a half percent on the total. And thus we are done with this.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : Good, what is left for us? What is left is trade goods. For example, what type of trade do you do?
The questioner : I distribute furniture to showroom owners.
The Shaykh : Furniture.
The questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : For example, sofas.
The questioner : Sofas, bedroom sets, and things like that.
The Shaykh : Good. These trade goods are called "trade goods" by the scholars. The scholars have two schools of thought on this. The well-known school among the scholars is that trade goods are assessed at the end of each year at their current value. After this assessment, it is as if these goods have been converted into liquidity. For example, if your goods are worth ten thousand, you assume you have ten thousand in liquidity and pay two and a half percent on them, as we said regarding the first type of wealth. This is the first school. The second school holds that there is no specific zakah on trade goods, but rather a general zakah. What does "general zakah" mean? It means the one paying zakah gives from these goods what pleases his believing soul, without a fixed percentage. For currency, it is known to be two and a half percent, but here there is no specific percentage; rather, it is what pleases the soul of the one paying zakah. Sometimes trade goods, as you said earlier, may have been purchased at a high price. In that case, the owner of these goods looks at his trade; if it is extensive, what he pays may not be worth a thousand, even if the value is a thousand, because it is little for him since his goods, praise be to Allah, are in the thousands. Or he may be a man of modest means who does not have that extensive wealth. So each of these merchants, the owners of trade goods, gives from these goods what corresponds to their financial situation, i.e., their wealth. If he does that, he has fulfilled the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase
خذ من أموالهم صدقة تطهرهم وتزكيهم بهاHe did not do it, my two predecessors before me.
إنه لم يفعله صاحباي من قبليThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : After two or three days, he retrieves this money and is free from zakah. It is a clear trick they call a "legal trick." Far be it from us, this is a "devilish trick." Its purpose is to oppose His saying:
(24) And those within whose wealth is a known right (25) For the petitioner and the deprived -
وفي أموالهم حق معلوم للسائل والمحرومHe said, “My two predecessors did not do this.” When they persisted, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was present in the assembly. He said, “O Commander of the Faithful, take it from them as voluntary charity.”
إنه لم يفعله صاحباي من قبلي، لما ألحوا كان في المجلس علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه قال: يا أمير المؤمنين خذها منهم على أنها صدقةHe has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who withholds it.
قد أفلح من زكاها وقد خاب من دساهاThe questioner : Yes, my lord.
The Shaykh : And is there anything else? Yes.
Source
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