Does an heir have to pay zakah on the inheritance before a lunar year has passed?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : My lord, regarding the estate subject to zakah.
The Shaykh : Regarding it, is it not so?
The questioner : The estate. The father passed away, and he had wealth, and he used to pay zakah on it... We distributed the property among the heirs.
Another questioner : The estate.
The questioner : Yes, the estate. Is it permissible for the heir to pay zakah on the estate he received before a year has passed?
The Shaykh : Meaning, does he pay zakah on the share he received?
The questioner : Yes, the share he received.
The Shaykh : Ah, when you say "permissible," I think you mean "obligatory."
The questioner : Yes, is it obligatory.
The Shaykh : And zakah is not obligatory on any wealth except with two conditions. The first condition is that it reaches the nisab (minimum threshold for zakah). The nisab in the Shari'ah is twenty gold dinars in the past. Twenty gold dinars are equivalent today to ten English gold sovereigns. These ten English sovereigns are equivalent today to approximately four hundred Jordanian dinars. So, if this heir inherited four hundred dinars, that is the first condition. And a lunar year has passed over it, which is the second condition, then zakah becomes obligatory. If one of the conditions is missing, zakah is not obligatory.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware, but here is something: if we stick to the wording of the question, "Is it permissible for him?" I would answer that it is permissible for him. But that is not the intention.The questioner : Therefore, we understood his intention from his wording, and the wording does not convey his intention. Then we went back and based a second ruling on his wording, which is that it is permissible for one who inherits wealth that reaches the nisab to hasten in doing good and pay two and a half percent as soon as he possesses it.
The questioner : And this is the question itself.
The Shaykh : But I was cautious and said to him, "Perhaps you mean obligatory?" He said, "Yes." ... So it means we do not distinguish between "obligatory" and "permissible."
The Shaykh : Regarding it, is it not so?
The questioner : The estate. The father passed away, and he had wealth, and he used to pay zakah on it... We distributed the property among the heirs.
Another questioner : The estate.
The questioner : Yes, the estate. Is it permissible for the heir to pay zakah on the estate he received before a year has passed?
The Shaykh : Meaning, does he pay zakah on the share he received?
The questioner : Yes, the share he received.
The Shaykh : Ah, when you say "permissible," I think you mean "obligatory."
The questioner : Yes, is it obligatory.
The Shaykh : And zakah is not obligatory on any wealth except with two conditions. The first condition is that it reaches the nisab (minimum threshold for zakah). The nisab in the Shari'ah is twenty gold dinars in the past. Twenty gold dinars are equivalent today to ten English gold sovereigns. These ten English sovereigns are equivalent today to approximately four hundred Jordanian dinars. So, if this heir inherited four hundred dinars, that is the first condition. And a lunar year has passed over it, which is the second condition, then zakah becomes obligatory. If one of the conditions is missing, zakah is not obligatory.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware, but here is something: if we stick to the wording of the question, "Is it permissible for him?" I would answer that it is permissible for him. But that is not the intention.The questioner : Therefore, we understood his intention from his wording, and the wording does not convey his intention. Then we went back and based a second ruling on his wording, which is that it is permissible for one who inherits wealth that reaches the nisab to hasten in doing good and pay two and a half percent as soon as he possesses it.
The questioner : And this is the question itself.
The Shaykh : But I was cautious and said to him, "Perhaps you mean obligatory?" He said, "Yes." ... So it means we do not distinguish between "obligatory" and "permissible."
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.