Fatwa ID: 08734
Answered by: Maulana Mohammed Aabu Saeed Miah
Question:
I calculate my wealth every year on 31st of January. My daughter was born this year on 16th January. I am on a temporary visa in the UK and I have to apply her visa as well. Before I applied , I had to first apply her birth registration, Pakistani identity card and passport – in that order. This process took about 3 months, if it hadn’t I’d have applied for her visa immediately but I sort of owed that money to the British government from the day she was born. Do I pay zakat on that money or am I exempted?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
[البقرة: ٤٣] ﴿وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ﴾
And Pay Zakah” [Baqarah:43]
Zakat is due on the wealth one possesses at the time of their fixed date, such wealth which is not part of his core needs and no one else has a right over (e.g. debt). Please note that the passing of a year is based on a lunar year and not a solar year. Basing it on a solar calendar date may cause one to be delayed in their payment as solar years are longer than lunar ones.
The money which one owes as a visa payment is due once the visa is applied for. As you mentioned above, the visa was applied for around 10 weeks after your ‘Zakat due date’. The Visa fees which you held on 31st January must be included in your ‘total zakat wealth’ as the Visa payment was not due yet, the Visa payment money will only be deducted from your ‘total Zakat wealth’ if it was due to be paid at your ‘Zakat due date’, 31st January, which it wasn’t.
References:
هي تمليك مال مخصوص لشخص مخصوص فرضت على حر مسلم مكلف مالك لنصاب من نقد ولو تبرا أو حلييا أو آنية أو ما يساوي قيمته من عروض تجارة فارغ عن الدين وعن حاجته الأصلية ولو تقديرا.
ص271 – كتاب مراقي الفلاح شرح نور الإيضاح – كتاب الزكاة- المكتبة العصرية
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best
Written by Maulana Mohammed Aabu Saeed Miah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
