Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear brother

As-salamualaikum.

I have a doubt on removing zakat money over jewels.is it compulsary that our posession of jewels must remain with oneself for one full year to remove zakat on it.

Suppose i have 100 soverigns of gold and i have removed zakat on it should i remove zakat on them every year.

If i sell all the jewels in 10 months and spend the money which i received from selling the jewels, then what happens to zakat?

If so please give me some proofs from quran or hadith.

Thanking you.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Zakah on jewelry

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: ….is it compulsary that our posession of jewels must remain with oneself for one full year to remove zakat on it.

Indeed, zakah is only due upon one’s excess assets (be it cash, property, jewelry, etc.) after it has been in one’s possession for a period of one full lunar calendar year.

Your Question: …..suppose i have 100 soverigns of gold and i have removed zakat on it should i remove zakat on them every year.

Yes indeed; one would be liable to pay zakah of 2.5% on the market value of their excess assets every year that asset is in their possession.

Your Question: ….if i sell all the jewels in 10 months and spend the money which i received from selling the jewels, then what happens to zakat?

Lets say one has jewelry worth $50,000.00 which has been in their possession for a period of 10 lunar calendar months, and one sells all that jewelry and buys a piece of land for the same amount. At the end of the calendar year, because one was in possession of excess assets of $50,000.00, one would still be liable to pay 2.5% of that as their zakah. The substance of the excess asset is irrelevant; as long as one was in possession of the excess asset (10 months gold + 2 months property), one would be liable to pay their annual zakah on the market value of the excess asset.

But lets say one has jewelry worth $50,000.00 for a period of 10 calendar months and then one sells that jewelry and uses the $50,000.00 to pay for an expense (be it their rent, or for their kids college fees, etc.). Because that asset was not in their possession for a full calendar year, they are not liable to pay any zakah for this year.

Thus in conclusion if one changes the substance of the asset (sells one asset and buys another), one would be liable to pay zakah on the market value of that asset at the end of the calendar year. But if he possesses an asset for less than a calendar year, and subsequently happens to sell that asset and spends the amount on an expense, then one is not liable to pay any zakah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan