Please let me know if zakat is applicable on asset which is less than a year in possesion
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:
AASALAAMWALEYKUM...
Please
let me know if zakat is applicable on asset which is less than a year in
possesion , like gold etc. Do aslo let me know the zakat on gold is as per the
average value of gold in a single year or as per the current price ?
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Answer:
Zakah on gold
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.
Every believer, regardless of whether man, woman, or
child, who has excess wealth (over the ‘nisaab) of their own, is liable to pay
a 2.5% annual zakat of their nett excess wealth in Shariah.
Zakat is not determined from one’s earnings, but rather on
one’s net excess wealth which is left over after paying all their expenses, and
it has been in their possession for a period of one calendar year. There is no
zakah liable on the house one lives in, or the furniture and fixture one uses
in their house, or the car one drives, etc.
But if one has property which one has bought as an investment, or spare
vehicles other the one one drives, or jewelry, or any other excess asset…then
zakah would be liable on these excess wealth and property.
Any asset, or wealth, or cash, or savings, which are left
over after all of one’s expenses are paid, and that excess savings and wealth
has been in their possession for one full calendar year is liable for payment
of annual ‘zakat’ at 2.5% of its value.
Your Question:
Please let me know if zakat is applicable on asset which is less than a year in
possesion , like gold etc.
If the assets, be it property, or cash, or gold, etc., has
not been in one’s possession for a period of one full calendar year, then zakah
is not liable on those assets.
For example: say on the 1st of Jan 2005 one had
$1,000.00 in cash, and six months later on the 1st of June 2005 one
spent $500.00 of that cash on buying gold; thus at the end of the year the
person had $500.00 in cash, and $500.00 in gold….because the value amount of
$1,000.00 had been in his possession for a period of one full calendar year,
the person would be liable to pay zakah on the $1,000.00 asset that he currently
possesses.
Your Question: Do
aslo let me know the zakat on gold is as per the average value of gold in a
single year or as per the current price ?
There is absolutely no harm if one determines the liable
zakah of one’s assets as per the average value over the calendar year or its
current market value; but it would best and closest to piety to pay whichever
value amount is higher.
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
Wister