Is it permissible to say that zakah is paid on profits? And why?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Another similar question that was on my mind: Is it permissible to say that zakah is paid on profits?
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Why?
The Shaykh : Because zakah is not obligatory on wealth until a lunar year has passed over it.
The questioner : I say, yes, this question is about the passing of the lunar year, but if the lunar year has passed, does he not pay on its profits? I say: if the lunar year has passed, he pays on the profits?
The Shaykh : Ah, so you mean something I have understood now, which is a man, let us assume, reached the nisab at the beginning of the month of Muharram.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the lunar year passed over this wealth at the beginning of Muharram of the following year.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But during the first year, he received profits, as you say, or earnings.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : When the second year began, he looked and found that he had multiple nisabs, not just one.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So does he pay on the single nisab over which the lunar year has passed, and not on the other nisabs over which the lunar year has not passed? Does he pay... and on what has not had a lunar year pass over it? Do you mean this?
The questioner : Yes, that is indeed what I mean.
The Shaykh : And the answer is that the scholars differed—also—in this issue, with two positions: some said that he pays on the total of what he has, including the nisab that became obligatory upon him by the application of the text, and the other nisabs over which the lunar year has not passed, but they are attached to the nisab, so he pays on the total of what he possesses. The second position is that whenever a nisab is available to him, he records it and waits for the lunar year to pass over it; some scholars have said this. But if we look at the principles of the Shari'ah, among which is His saying—Exalted is He—:[Al-Baqarah 2:185] specifically in this time when merchants are surprised by profits at every moment.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So it is not easy to calculate every piece of wealth that comes to him that has reached the nisab, and to record it and record something that "crashes" the computer's mind, if that is the right expression.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : Besides the weakness and inability of the human being; therefore, this observation was one of the reasons that carried me, indeed pushed me, to prefer the first position; so profits are subject to zakah; provided that there is a base, which is the nisab, and that the lunar year has passed over it. It is not so, for example, as you mentioned earlier—may Allah bless you—a towering building, where he receives, for example, at the beginning of every year, a large number of thousands of dirhams or dinars; this is profit; is it obligatory for him to pay zakah immediately upon receiving this profit? The answer is: no.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But if he has a nisab, and the lunar year has passed over it, and this abundant profit has come to him; he pays on the total.
The questioner : Yes, and this is the stronger position, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, this is what we have.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
Please proceed.
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Why?
The Shaykh : Because zakah is not obligatory on wealth until a lunar year has passed over it.
The questioner : I say, yes, this question is about the passing of the lunar year, but if the lunar year has passed, does he not pay on its profits? I say: if the lunar year has passed, he pays on the profits?
The Shaykh : Ah, so you mean something I have understood now, which is a man, let us assume, reached the nisab at the beginning of the month of Muharram.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the lunar year passed over this wealth at the beginning of Muharram of the following year.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But during the first year, he received profits, as you say, or earnings.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : When the second year began, he looked and found that he had multiple nisabs, not just one.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So does he pay on the single nisab over which the lunar year has passed, and not on the other nisabs over which the lunar year has not passed? Does he pay... and on what has not had a lunar year pass over it? Do you mean this?
The questioner : Yes, that is indeed what I mean.
The Shaykh : And the answer is that the scholars differed—also—in this issue, with two positions: some said that he pays on the total of what he has, including the nisab that became obligatory upon him by the application of the text, and the other nisabs over which the lunar year has not passed, but they are attached to the nisab, so he pays on the total of what he possesses. The second position is that whenever a nisab is available to him, he records it and waits for the lunar year to pass over it; some scholars have said this. But if we look at the principles of the Shari'ah, among which is His saying—Exalted is He—:
Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship
يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So it is not easy to calculate every piece of wealth that comes to him that has reached the nisab, and to record it and record something that "crashes" the computer's mind, if that is the right expression.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : Besides the weakness and inability of the human being; therefore, this observation was one of the reasons that carried me, indeed pushed me, to prefer the first position; so profits are subject to zakah; provided that there is a base, which is the nisab, and that the lunar year has passed over it. It is not so, for example, as you mentioned earlier—may Allah bless you—a towering building, where he receives, for example, at the beginning of every year, a large number of thousands of dirhams or dinars; this is profit; is it obligatory for him to pay zakah immediately upon receiving this profit? The answer is: no.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But if he has a nisab, and the lunar year has passed over it, and this abundant profit has come to him; he pays on the total.
The questioner : Yes, and this is the stronger position, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, this is what we have.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
Please proceed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.