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:

just a couple of months back, i paid some 5000 rs to some needy. this ramzan im thinking of taking out zakat on my jewellery which is going to be zakat from this ramzan till next ramzan. will that 5000 be also included in zakat om jewellery, or shud i take out complete zakat on jew. ( i just got married and got jewellery from paretns and in laws. b4 that dint have any so dint pay any zakat).Also if i am not sure abt how much that gold is worth and dont have any means to weigh, how shud i calculate?

second Q is, my husband, etc pay zakat to syedna which even he knows isnt right, but due to social bounds he has to. now considering the fact that this money goes to those who teach children how 2 read Quran and other such people, do u think even a little amount is right, or do you think, even afetr paying 2 syedna we shud still take out the money and pay. (pl dont give the suggestion not to pay anything 2 syedna cos its impossible, i just wanna know, besides paying also shud i pay). Also ur money shud be in ur possession for 1 year 2 be zakatable. does that mean no zakat on past 11 months salary?

My third Q is that i read somewhere that Hadrat Ali once showed desire to marry abu jahals daughter which angered rasul Allah. he said this will hurt my daughter fatema so ali shudnt do this. now my Q is when Rasul Allah has allowed 4 marriages to all muslim men, y shud the rules be different in case of Hadrat Ali

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Answer:

Pay Zakat to Syedna and Ali Fatema

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 no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) 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: just a couple of months back, i paid some 5000 rs to some needy. this ramzan im thinking of taking out zakat on my jewellery which is going to be zakat from this ramzan till next ramzan. will that 5000 be also included in zakat om jewellery, or shud i take out complete zakat on jew. ( i just got married and got jewellery from paretns and in laws. b4 that dint have any so dint pay any zakat).

Beloved sister, if while paying the Rs. 5,000.00 to the needy person your intention was to fulfill your ‘zakah’ dues, then and only then would it constitute as ‘zakah’, otherwise it would constitute as ‘sadaqa’ or supererogatory charity. Thus it all depends what were your intentions when you paid the Rs. 5,000.00 to the needy person. If you paid the money without the specific intention of fulfilling your ‘zakah’ dues, then that payment would not be considered as ‘zakah’.

Your Question: Also if i am not sure abt how much that gold is worth and dont have any means to weigh, how shud i calculate?
Beloved Sister, it is your responsibility to value the possessions which are in your absolute control (like your jewelry, etc.) and fulfill the annual ‘zakah’ dues on it to purify your possessions. It would be best to take your jewelry to any jeweler, get the gold weighed and valued, and purify your possession by paying 2.5% of its current market value as your ‘zakah’ dues.

Amr ibn Shu'aib from his father: "Two women with gold bracelets on their wrists came to the Prophet (saws). The Prophet (saws) said: 'Do you want Allah to make you wear bracelets of fire on the Day of Judgment?' They answered: 'No.' He (saws) said: 'Then pay the zakah which is due on what you wear on your wrists.' "

Asma reported: "My aunt and I, while wearing gold bracelets, went to the Prophet (saws). He (saws) asked: 'Did you pay their zakah?' She related that they had not. The Prophet (saws) said: 'Do you not fear that Allah will make you wear a bracelet of fire? Pay its zakah!' "

Narrated by Ahmad.

Your Question: second Q is, my husband, etc pay zakat to syedna which even he knows isnt right, but due to social bounds he has to. now considering the fact that this money goes to those who teach children how 2 read Quran and other such people, do u think even a little amount is right, or do you think, even afetr paying 2 syedna we shud still take out the money and pay. (pl dont give the suggestion not to pay anything 2 syedna cos its impossible, i just wanna know, besides paying also shud i pay).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 60:

60 Alms are for the poor, and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds), for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to truth), for those in bondage, and in debt, in the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by Allah and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.

If the person paying his zakah dues sincerely thinks and believes that the people or organization he is paying the dues to spend the money in one of the above eight categories of zakah as ordained and commanded by Allah Subhanah, he would be blameless in the Court of Allah Subhanah. If the people who received the funds in the name of Allah mis-appropriate the zakah funds, it is they who will be held accountable for their deeds in the Majestic Presence of the All-Mighty Lord. Allah Subhanah has strictly warned the believers against the evil practices of such self-proclaimed ‘priests’ and ‘holy men’ who devour the wealth of others by evil means in His Glorious Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35 :

O you who believe! There are indeed many among the ‘priests’ and the ‘holy men’ who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and debar the people from the Way of Allah. Give them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend these in the Way of Allah. The Day shall surely come when the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their bodies and their backs. (And it will be said): “Here is that treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves! Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!”

But if one’s intention while paying the funds to a certain organization are only to subdue or mitigate social pressure, then as is the general and underlying rule in Islam: every person will get the reward according to his intentions.

Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 1.1

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for."

Intentions for doing a deed are so paramount in Islam, that even if one did ‘Hijrah’ or migration with the Prophet (saws) with the intention to earn worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, he will not earn the meritorious and magnanimous reward of migrating for Allah and His Messenger (saws)! Such is the importance of intentions when doing any deed in Islam; and Allah Subhanah is well aware of the innermost intentions of our hearts.

Thus if the intention of paying the zakah dues to a certain organization are only to subdue or mitigate social pressure, the person paying the zakah will not have its reward in the Presence of Allah Subhanah; and Allah is our witness, such a transaction would be a loss for the person not only in the life of this world, but also in the Hereafter.

Besides to the best of my knowledge, the general practice in the Bohra community is to negotiate and try to pay their ‘priests’ as little zakah as possible, for the general belief amongst the community is that if the ‘priests’ accept the amount as zakah, they have fulfilled their obligation to Allah! Allah is our witness, nothing could be farther from the Truth! Zakah dues are an obligation to Allah and must be accurately calculated and dispersed at 2.5% of one’s nett worth which has been in one’s possession for a period of one calendar year. Allah is our witness, if one does not fulfill this obligatory condition of Islam, he will have a severe accounting in the Majestic Presence of the Lord All-Mighty on an Inevitable Day.

Your Question: my husband, etc pay zakat to syedna which even he knows isnt right, but due to social bounds he has to. u think even a little amount is right, or do you think, even afetr paying 2 syedna we shud still take out the money and pay.

Since your husband knows that it isn’t right but still pays his zakah dues to the ‘hierarchy’ only because he is socially bound, and if he sincerely wishes not to take on the Wrath of The All-Mighty Lord on that Tumultuous Day, it would be best if he accurately calculated his excess wealth and dispersed 2.5% of it in the manner ordained and commanded by Allah Subhanah.

Your Question: Also ur money shud be in ur possession for 1 year 2 be zakatable. does that mean no zakat on past 11 months salary?
Zakah is only due on one’s excess wealth or nett worth which has been in one’s possession for a period of one calendar year. Any asset which one uses in ones regular day-to-day life, like the house and its furnishings one lives in, the car one uses, the expenses one makes, etc. are exempt from zakah valuations. Zakah is payable on only one’s savings and excess wealth which has been in one’s possession for a period of one full calendar year.

Thus zakah is not paid on one’s annual salary, but what one saves from one’s salary and the excess wealth one builds and is in one’s possession for a period of one full calendar year.

Your Question: My third Q is that i read somewhere that Hadrat Ali once showed desire to marry abu jahals daughter which angered rasul Allah. he said this will hurt my daughter fatema so ali shudnt do this. now my Q is when Rasul Allah has allowed 4 marriages to all muslim men, y shud the rules be different in case of Hadrat Ali? 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 5.76 Narrated by Al Miswar bin Makhrama

Ali demanded the hand of the daughter of Abu Jahl. Fatima heard of this and went to her father, The Messenger of Allah (saws) saying, "Your people think that you do not become angry for the sake of your daughters as 'Ali is now going to marry the daughter of Abu Jahl!" On that Allah's Messenger (saws) got up and after his recitation of Tashah-hud, I heard him (saw) saying, "Then after! I married one of my daughters (Zainab) to Abu Al-'As bin Al-Rabi' before Islam and he proved truthful in whatever he said to me. No doubt, Fatima is a part of me, I hate to see her being troubled. By Allah, the daughter of Allah's Messenger and the daughter of Allah's enemy cannot be the wives of one man." So 'Ali gave up that engagement.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.157 Narrated by Al Miswar bin Makhrama

I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) who was on the pulpit, saying, "Banu Hisham bin Al-Mughira (the tribe of Abu Jahl) have requested me to allow them to marry their daughter to Ali bin Abu Talib, but I don't give permission, and will not give permission unless 'Ali bin Abi Talib divorces my daughter in order to marry their daughter, because Fatima is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me."

It is indeed true and recorded in history that Hadrat Ali (r.a.) once desired to marry one of the daughters of the arch-enemy of Allah and His Messenger (saws), the accursed Abu Jahl in the lifetime of Hadrat Fatimah (r.a.). Although the daughter of Abu Jahl was a believer and the marriage was absolutely legal according to Islamic Law, it was only natural as it would be with any first wife, that Hadrat Fatimah (r.a.) was not too pleased with the idea and seeing that Hadrat Ali (r.a.) was adamant, sought the help of her beloved father, the Messenger of Allah (saws) in dissuading Hadrat Ali (r.a.) from his intention.

As much as he was the Messenger of Allah (saws), Prophet Mohamed (saws) was also a human being and absolutely doted and loved his beloved and favorite daughter Fatimah (r.a.); and he (saws) is recorded several times as saying that ‘she is part of me, I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me!’ Such was the love and respect the Prophet (saws) had for Hadrat Fatima (r.a.)! As the Prophet and custodian of the Laws of Allah, he (saws) did not prohibit or declare it illegal for Hadrat Ali (r.a.) to marry another wife; but as a loving and doting father, he would not give permission to Hadrat Ali (r.a.) to take another wife until he divorced Hadrat Fatima, a sacrifice which Hadrat Ali (r.a.) would never bring himself to do!

After witnessing first hand the disapproval of Hadrat Fatima (r.a.) and especially of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Ali (r.a.) did not take another wife until the death of his beloved wife Fatima (r.a.); and it is recorded that after the death of Hadrat Fatima (r.a.), Hadrat Ali (r.a.) married as many as eight times, but in adherence to Islamic Law did not have more than four wives at any one time.

The above incident and disapproval of the Prophet (saws) to Hadrat Ali’s (r.a.) second marriage had nothing to do with Islamic Law; but rather the natural reaction of any loving and doting father in protecting the happiness of his children. He (saws) did not prohibit Hadrat Ali (r.a.) to exercise his right to take another wife, but showed his disapproval by demanding that Hadrat Ali (r.a.) divorce his daughter if he wished to fulfill his desire to marry again, a sacrifice Hadrat Ali (r.a.) could never bring himself to do! Hadrat Ali (r.a.) sensed the disapproval of the Prophet (saws) and the immense love between father and daughter, and did not even bring up the subject of taking another wife until well after the death of his beloved wife Hadrat Fatima (r.a.).

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