Did you spend the investment yield before the lunar year completed? Is there zakah on it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Q: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, to the honorable brother—may Allah guide him to all good, amen. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Your noble letter has arrived, and the information it contains is that you own a small building that has been renovated, the cost of which reached seventy thousand riyals, and you incurred a debt of forty thousand riyals due to that renovation. You rent it out annually for eight thousand riyals, which is paid to you in advance for each year. When you receive the aforementioned amount, you use it to pay off part of the debts you owe. Your question is about the obligation of zakah on the aforementioned rent, and so on.
A: Zakah becomes obligatory on wealth that has completed a lunar year while in the possession of its owner, whether it is currency or commercial goods.
As for this type of rent that you receive in advance from the tenant and use to pay off the debt, zakah is not obligatory on it; because a lunar year has not completed while it is in your ownership. The consideration in this matter is from the time of the lease contract to the end of the year. If you receive the rent before the end of the year and use it to pay off the debt, or spend it on household needs, there is no zakah on it.
As for your question about the zakah on the two lands you own, if they are prepared for trade, it is obligatory to appraise them at the end of each year, and to pay their zakah when you are able. If you are unable to do so, it is permissible to delay it until you are able. You are not required to borrow money; rather, the zakah remains a debt in your liability until you are able to pay it out. This is based on the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [al-Taghabun: 16], and His saying, the Exalted: [al-Baqarah: 280].
As for your question about whether a debt prevents zakah?
The answer is that there is scholarly disagreement on this issue, and the stronger position is that a debt does not exempt one from zakah. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to order his collectors to take zakah from people, and he did not order them to exempt those in debt, nor to ask the zakah-payers if they had debts so that they could be reduced by that amount. Thus, it is known that a debt does not prevent zakah.
The pure Shari'ah has indicated that zakah increases the payer in good, purification, blessing, and immediate replacement. As He, the Exalted, said: [al-Tawbah: 103], and He, the Exalted, said: [Saba: 39].
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 2588. Imam Muslim recorded it in his Sahih.
In Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 1010.
May Allah guide me and you to understanding in His religion, steadfastness upon it, and hastening to what pleases Him. Indeed, He is All-Hearing, Near. And peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Your noble letter has arrived, and the information it contains is that you own a small building that has been renovated, the cost of which reached seventy thousand riyals, and you incurred a debt of forty thousand riyals due to that renovation. You rent it out annually for eight thousand riyals, which is paid to you in advance for each year. When you receive the aforementioned amount, you use it to pay off part of the debts you owe. Your question is about the obligation of zakah on the aforementioned rent, and so on.
A: Zakah becomes obligatory on wealth that has completed a lunar year while in the possession of its owner, whether it is currency or commercial goods.
As for this type of rent that you receive in advance from the tenant and use to pay off the debt, zakah is not obligatory on it; because a lunar year has not completed while it is in your ownership. The consideration in this matter is from the time of the lease contract to the end of the year. If you receive the rent before the end of the year and use it to pay off the debt, or spend it on household needs, there is no zakah on it.
As for your question about the zakah on the two lands you own, if they are prepared for trade, it is obligatory to appraise them at the end of each year, and to pay their zakah when you are able. If you are unable to do so, it is permissible to delay it until you are able. You are not required to borrow money; rather, the zakah remains a debt in your liability until you are able to pay it out. This is based on the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْAnd if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَى مَيْسَرَةٍAs for your question about whether a debt prevents zakah?
The answer is that there is scholarly disagreement on this issue, and the stronger position is that a debt does not exempt one from zakah. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to order his collectors to take zakah from people, and he did not order them to exempt those in debt, nor to ask the zakah-payers if they had debts so that they could be reduced by that amount. Thus, it is known that a debt does not prevent zakah.
The pure Shari'ah has indicated that zakah increases the payer in good, purification, blessing, and immediate replacement. As He, the Exalted, said:
Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَاBut whatever thing you spend [in His cause] - He will compensate it; and He is the best of providers."
وَمَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّن شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَAnd the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Charity does not decrease wealth, no one forgives another except that Allah increases his honor, and no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah raises his status.
ما نقصت صدقة من مال، وما زاد الله عبداً بعفو إلا عزاً، وما تواضع أحد لله إلا رفعه اللهIn Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There is never a day wherein servants (of God) get up at morn, but are not visited by two angels. One of them says: 0 Allah, give him more who spends (for the sake of Allah), and the other says: 0 Allah, bring destruction to one who withholds.
ما من يوم يصبح فيه العباد إلا وينزل فيه ملكان، يقول أحدهما: اللهم أعط منفقاً خلفاً، ويقول الآخر: اللهم أعط ممسكًا تلفًاMay Allah guide me and you to understanding in His religion, steadfastness upon it, and hastening to what pleases Him. Indeed, He is All-Hearing, Near. And peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.