Giving Zakat to people who do not possess the Nisab

CategoriesZakah [295]

Fatwa ID: 02329

Answered by: Molana Eunus Ali

Question:

Salam,
1.Are we allowed to give Zakat to people in UK who do not possess the Nisab amount but have extra luxuries like extra clothing and several mobile phones etc?
Will all of that be considered as basic necessities?
2. What is actually classed as basic needs in Zakat?
3. Will Ushr be necessary on Lands in Uk or do we just calculate Zakat on the produce?

JazakAllah

Answer

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

  1. It will be permissible to give the zakah to a person who does not possess the nisab in amount in gold, silver, cash etc. However if the person owns other items such as clothing, mobile phones, cars etc which exceeds the nisab threshold, then zakat cannot be given to such a person.[1]
  2. The following group of people will be entitled to receive zakah:
  3. The Poor person (Faqir): the person who has some amount of possession however it does not reach the amount of nisab.
  4. The Destitute Person: the person who does not possess anything.
  5. The Zakah collector: The leader will set aside an amount for him.
  6. A slave who has been granted permission to purchase his freedom (Mukatab)
  7. The person in debt who is unable to settle it and does not have other savings exceeding the amount of nisab.
  8. The warrior in the path of Allah.
  9. The traveller who does not have access to his wealth.

If the above mentioned people possess belonging which have a value above the nisab amount however sharia’h has not included them within the list of item upon which zakah needs to be given, they will be entitled to receiving zakah. [2]

  1. Ushr will be paid on the produce of the land and not for the actual land itself.[3]

Only Allah knows best

Written by Molana Eunus Ali

Darul Ifta Birmingham

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah


[1]RaddulMuhtar, Volume 3, Page 182, DarulKutubulIlmiyyah

[2] Al-Lubab Fi SharhilKitab, Page 164 & 165, Al-MaktabatulUmariyyah

Hashiyah At-Tahtawi, Page 719, DarulKutubulIlmiyyah

[3]Badai As-Sanai, Volume 2, Page 493, DarulKutubulIlmiyyah

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