Fatwa ID: 05420

Answered by: Maulana Syed Johir Miah

Question

A person’s relative passed away. He is expecting to receive the inheritance money soon. Currently, he is poor and zakat eligible. Nevertheless, the amount he’s expecting to receive in inheritance is abundant and past the nisab amount; however, he doesn’t have access to the inheritance money. Would this person be zakat-eligible?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Zakah is an obligation for every free, sane, mature Muslim when they have owned the value of Nisab and a year has passed.[1]

Zakah is also due upon a person who has money up to the amount equivalent to 52.5 tolas (612.35g) of silver. The nisab of zakat for gold is 7.5 tolas (87.48 g) and for silver, it is 52.5 tolas (612.35 g). [2]

In the aforementioned case, he would still be eligible for Zakah as he is still not the owner or has possession of that inheritance money and consequently he is eligible for the Zakah money.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Syed Johir Miah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1]الزكاة واجبة على الحر العاقل البالغ المسلم إذا ملك نصابا ملكا تاما وحال عليه الحول

Hidaya, 290/2, Dar IhyatTurath, Beirut, Lebanon.

[2]نِصابُ الذَّهَبِ عِشْرُونَ مِثْقالًا والفِضَّةِ مِائَتا دِرْهَمٍ كُلُّ عَشْرَةِ دَراهِمَ (وزْنُ سَبْعَةِ مَثاقِيلَ

Durrul Mukhtar, 68/1, Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, 1423 H.