Do boxes set up for lending require zakah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O esteemed Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, these are employees in a government department who collect two hundred riyals from their salary every month. There are fifty of them, and they have been collecting in this association for several years. So at the end...
The Shaykh : I mean, each one...
The questioner : I mean, two hundred riyals per month.
The Shaykh : Two hundred per month, or the total?
The questioner : No, they are fifty, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Fifty, and each person pays two hundred.
The questioner : Two hundred from each employee.
The Shaykh : How much does that make per month?
The questioner : Two hundred from fifty.
The Shaykh : One hundred thousand.
The questioner : Per month.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : Ten thousand, ten thousand riyals.
The Shaykh : How? They are fifty, from two thousand?
The student: Two hundred per month.
The Shaykh : Yes, from two hundred. Well, the important thing is...
The questioner : Now, O Shaykh, each employee’s balance has reached approximately fifteen thousand. These amounts are lent to the members, meaning the contributors, as a loan. However, at the end of the year, when the lunar year arrives, there is not a single riyal in the box. Do they owe zakah, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : First, may Allah reward you. Do these contributors donate on the condition that this amount has left their ownership?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, it belongs to them.
The Shaykh : If he requests to take it...
The questioner : It is returned to him, but not in the same month.
The Shaykh : Wait, wait. If he requests to retrieve it, it is returned to him.
The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : Well, and if he dies, his heirs take it.
The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : Then it is their property.
The questioner : Yes, but it is not currently in the box.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is not there, but it is a debt.
The questioner : Yes, a debt, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So each one of them must pay zakah on his share.
The questioner : Well, some of them are borrowing from the same box.
The Shaykh : What contradicts.
The questioner : Well, they are now thinking, O Shaykh, that they will buy cars and lend them out.
The Shaykh : If he is a borrower, there is no zakah on his share because he has consumed it, and the share of the others...
The questioner : The borrower does not owe zakah, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The borrower does not owe zakah because it is gone.
The questioner : Yes, he has, for example, twenty or thirty [thousand].
The Shaykh : What he took, he spent on food, drink, clothing, building, and the like.
The questioner : And the non-borrower owes zakah.
The Shaykh : And the lender owes zakah.
The questioner : Well, O Shaykh, they are now thinking of buying cars and paying for them in installments so that the money is not reduced by zakah. They will pay in installments to each other from the capital.
The Shaykh : I do not advise them to do this, even though some scholars permit it. But I do not advise them because this involves a type of circumvention, and a little of what is lawful is better than much of what is forbidden. This concludes this session, and we will begin the session, if Allah wills, next year. Next year, if Allah wills, the Exalted.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4859Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani)
The Shaykh : I mean, each one...
The questioner : I mean, two hundred riyals per month.
The Shaykh : Two hundred per month, or the total?
The questioner : No, they are fifty, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Fifty, and each person pays two hundred.
The questioner : Two hundred from each employee.
The Shaykh : How much does that make per month?
The questioner : Two hundred from fifty.
The Shaykh : One hundred thousand.
The questioner : Per month.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : Ten thousand, ten thousand riyals.
The Shaykh : How? They are fifty, from two thousand?
The student: Two hundred per month.
The Shaykh : Yes, from two hundred. Well, the important thing is...
The questioner : Now, O Shaykh, each employee’s balance has reached approximately fifteen thousand. These amounts are lent to the members, meaning the contributors, as a loan. However, at the end of the year, when the lunar year arrives, there is not a single riyal in the box. Do they owe zakah, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : First, may Allah reward you. Do these contributors donate on the condition that this amount has left their ownership?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, it belongs to them.
The Shaykh : If he requests to take it...
The questioner : It is returned to him, but not in the same month.
The Shaykh : Wait, wait. If he requests to retrieve it, it is returned to him.
The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : Well, and if he dies, his heirs take it.
The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : Then it is their property.
The questioner : Yes, but it is not currently in the box.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is not there, but it is a debt.
The questioner : Yes, a debt, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So each one of them must pay zakah on his share.
The questioner : Well, some of them are borrowing from the same box.
The Shaykh : What contradicts.
The questioner : Well, they are now thinking, O Shaykh, that they will buy cars and lend them out.
The Shaykh : If he is a borrower, there is no zakah on his share because he has consumed it, and the share of the others...
The questioner : The borrower does not owe zakah, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The borrower does not owe zakah because it is gone.
The questioner : Yes, he has, for example, twenty or thirty [thousand].
The Shaykh : What he took, he spent on food, drink, clothing, building, and the like.
The questioner : And the non-borrower owes zakah.
The Shaykh : And the lender owes zakah.
The questioner : Well, O Shaykh, they are now thinking of buying cars and paying for them in installments so that the money is not reduced by zakah. They will pay in installments to each other from the capital.
The Shaykh : I do not advise them to do this, even though some scholars permit it. But I do not advise them because this involves a type of circumvention, and a little of what is lawful is better than much of what is forbidden. This concludes this session, and we will begin the session, if Allah wills, next year. Next year, if Allah wills, the Exalted.