How does an employee who deposits his money in the bank monthly pay his zakah?
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The questioner : I am an employee and I deposit a portion of my salary in the bank every month. How do I pay its zakah?
The Shaykh : The best approach for employees regarding zakah is for a person to designate a specific month in which he calculates his wealth and pays his zakah. He should pay the zakah on whatever he finds in the bank or elsewhere, even if a lunar year has not passed for it. Why?
Because this is easier for him and safer from error. For example, if we assume that this man was employed in Ramadan and received his salary in Ramadan, then when Ramadan comes in the second year, he should pay the zakah, including the zakah for the month of Sha'ban, even though only one month has passed for it. This is safer because if he tried to look at each specific month individually, it would be burdensome and the matter would become difficult for him. If he pays the zakah all at once, then for the portion that has completed a lunar year, he has paid it at the time it was due, and for the portion that has not completed a year, its zakah is paid early, and paying zakah early is permissible.
The Shaykh : The best approach for employees regarding zakah is for a person to designate a specific month in which he calculates his wealth and pays his zakah. He should pay the zakah on whatever he finds in the bank or elsewhere, even if a lunar year has not passed for it. Why?
Because this is easier for him and safer from error. For example, if we assume that this man was employed in Ramadan and received his salary in Ramadan, then when Ramadan comes in the second year, he should pay the zakah, including the zakah for the month of Sha'ban, even though only one month has passed for it. This is safer because if he tried to look at each specific month individually, it would be burdensome and the matter would become difficult for him. If he pays the zakah all at once, then for the portion that has completed a lunar year, he has paid it at the time it was due, and for the portion that has not completed a year, its zakah is paid early, and paying zakah early is permissible.