Fatwa ID: 08218

 

Answered by: Maulana Abdoullah Limvoonheek

 

Question:

 

Zakat question

A person has started some home renovations costing 50k.

The job will take 5 months.

The builder has asked for 10k each month as the work progresses.

After 2 months and paying 20k already, zakat due date comes.

Does he minus 30k from his total zakatable assets when making calculations?

Does he minus 10k, as that is due in 1 month?

 

Deduct nothing, as at the present moment in time he actually doesn’t need to pay anything (if the builder stops coming to work the owner won’t need to pay the remaining 30k)?

 

P.S. There is a written agreement of the 50k costs and monthly installments.

 

 

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

 

Answer:

 

Zakat is due upon a person who owns the Nisab amount from jewelry, cash, or merchandise and is free from debts and after the basic necessities.

The condition for the payment of zakat to be compulsory is when one possesses the Nisab amount for a complete Islamic year.

Irrespective of whether during the year one earns more wealth or loses some, even if it goes under the Nisab amount but doesn’t come to zero where one lost all the wealth.

If a person is doing renovation and the builder agrees to receive payment monthly of 10,000, however the full amount of 50,000 is a debt which has to be paid to the builder:

A – He will not minus 30,000 from his total zakatable assets when making calculations, rather he will minus the whole 50,000 based on the complete work of the builder.

B – 10,000 will not be minus. Instead, the whole amount will be considered because it is a debt owed to the builder for his work. But the agreement is that he will take it progressively.

C – The contract is binding and it will be considered as a done deal. Thus, the money will also be binding and considered a debt which will be deducted when calculating the zakat.

 

Hope this answers the question.

 

 

Only Allah knows best.

 

 

Written by Maulana Abdoullah Limvoonheek
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

 

 

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. وشرط وجوب أدائها حولان الحول على النصاب الأصلي وأما المستفاد في أثناء الحول فيضم إلى مجانسه ويزكي بتمام الحول الأصلي سواء استفيد بتجارة أو ميراث أو غيره ولو جعل ذو نصاب

 

مراقي الفلاح ص٢٧١

 

 

 

وهي (واجبة) والمراد بالوجوب الفرض: لأنه لا شبهة فيه. هداية. (على الحر المسلم البالغ العاقل إذا ملك نصاباً) فارغاً عن دين له مطالب وعن حاجته

 

اللباب ج١ ص١٣٦