Fatwa ID: 03629
Answered by: Maulana Maqtaur Rahman
Question
My question is that when giving zakat, do we give according to the Islamic year or the English year?
Also, if a person totally forgets to give zakat and then he remembers after the due date has passed, is he a sinner? When that individual does eventually give zakat, does he give it according to the currency that he possesses at that time or at the time the zakat was due?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
To allow more clarity in providing answers the queries have been separated and numbered as mentioned below:
- Do we give zakat according to the Islamic year or the English year?
وحولها (أي الزكوة) قمريّ لا شمسيّ
Zakat is calculated according to the lunar calendar, not the solar calendar.[1]
Therefore, the obligation would initiate as soon as one holds the possession of the nisab amount or its equivalent.
Imam Qudoori mentions: “Zakat is compulsory upon a free, mature, sane Muslim when he holds the full possession of the nisab for one full (Islamic) year.”[2]
- If a person forgets to give zakat and remembers after the due date has passed, is he a sinner?
(وقيل فوري) أي واجب على الفور (وعليه الفتوى) كما في شرح الوهبانية (فيأثم بتأخيرها) بلا عذر (وترد شهادته)
The person will be sinful. Since from the due date, the obligation of paying zakat starts until the following date of the next lunar year.[3] The advice will be to fulfil the previous payments and seek forgiveness to Allah; The All-Forgiving and Most Merciful.
- Is zakat given according to the currency of the remembered time or at the rate when zakat was first due?
One should calculate the amount of due zakat based on the currency which was at that time when zakat was first due.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Maulana Muqtaur Rahman
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
