Is it permissible to set a single time for paying the zakah on all one's wealth?
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the issue of the nisab, we mentioned previously that merchants who have more than one company, more than one source of income, and more than one shop...
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : ...should set a day in the year to gather what they have in all these shops, regardless of whether the hawl has passed for this one and not for that one. That is impossible, as it would require calculating the specific amount for which the hawl has passed and the amount for which it has not; because the funds are numerous and greater.
The Shaykh : This is another matter, may Allah reward you. This is another matter, and its answer is also known. That is, the scholars differed regarding a person—let us leave aside merchants and companies—a person who reaches the nisab in the first month of Muharram. In the second Muharram, zakah becomes obligatory upon him. Between the first and second Muharram, he receives additional amounts of wealth, which he adds to the first nisab. At the end of the year, meaning in the second Muharram, does he pay zakah on the nisab for which the hawl has passed, regardless of the other amounts? If he were to determine the hawl for each of these amounts, he might accumulate dozens of nisabs throughout the year. Does he pay zakah on the total of this wealth that has accumulated with him, or does each nisab have its own hawl? There are two opinions among the scholars. The opinion that appears stronger to me is that it is not obligatory for the merchant or the wealthy person to open a ledger for every nisab, every day or every five days, and so on.
Rather, once he reaches one nisab, and then more is added to it, he pays zakah on this group. If the added amount is more than a nisab and the hawl has not passed for it, it goes by the intercession of the first nisab. This is another matter.
We are now speaking about a company, whether its treasury is empty or not. We have now learned that in some companies, the treasury does not remain empty of at least one nisab. Therefore, zakah is obligatory on this stored wealth, even if it is only one nisab.
The Shaykh : As for that merchant you mentioned, his answer is what you heard just now. So here there are two clear matters.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : ...should set a day in the year to gather what they have in all these shops, regardless of whether the hawl has passed for this one and not for that one. That is impossible, as it would require calculating the specific amount for which the hawl has passed and the amount for which it has not; because the funds are numerous and greater.
The Shaykh : This is another matter, may Allah reward you. This is another matter, and its answer is also known. That is, the scholars differed regarding a person—let us leave aside merchants and companies—a person who reaches the nisab in the first month of Muharram. In the second Muharram, zakah becomes obligatory upon him. Between the first and second Muharram, he receives additional amounts of wealth, which he adds to the first nisab. At the end of the year, meaning in the second Muharram, does he pay zakah on the nisab for which the hawl has passed, regardless of the other amounts? If he were to determine the hawl for each of these amounts, he might accumulate dozens of nisabs throughout the year. Does he pay zakah on the total of this wealth that has accumulated with him, or does each nisab have its own hawl? There are two opinions among the scholars. The opinion that appears stronger to me is that it is not obligatory for the merchant or the wealthy person to open a ledger for every nisab, every day or every five days, and so on.
Rather, once he reaches one nisab, and then more is added to it, he pays zakah on this group. If the added amount is more than a nisab and the hawl has not passed for it, it goes by the intercession of the first nisab. This is another matter.
We are now speaking about a company, whether its treasury is empty or not. We have now learned that in some companies, the treasury does not remain empty of at least one nisab. Therefore, zakah is obligatory on this stored wealth, even if it is only one nisab.
The Shaykh : As for that merchant you mentioned, his answer is what you heard just now. So here there are two clear matters.
Source
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