Fatwaa ID: 028

Question:

Are retirement annuities included in the calculation of zakah?

Answer:

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullaahi wa-barakaatuh.

Retirement annuities are of two types: employees either voluntarily contribute to the pension scheme or the employees do not have a role in the contribution. In the former case, if the retirement annuity is compliant with Shari’ah, the employee will include the retirement annuity in his zakaah calculation as he has directly and willingly contributed to the investment ^[1]. 

In the latter case where he does not have a role in the contribution,

1. if the employee has complete ownership and total access to the retirement annuity, then it will be included in his calculation of zakaah;
2. if the employee does not have complete ownership and access to the retirement annuity, which is generally the case, then there is no zakaah on it. Hence, he will not include it in his zakaah calculation^[2]. 

And Allaah Ta’aala Knows Best.
Muajul I. Chowdhury
Student, Darul Iftaa
Astoria, New York, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

04/19/2018

وصل اللهم وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى ءاله وصحبه أجمعين

^[1]  حاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (2/ 263(

(قوله نام ولو تقديرا) النماء في اللغة بالمد: الزيادة، والقصر بالهمز خطأ، يقال: نما المال ينمي نماء وينمو نموا وأنماه الله – تعالى – كذا في المغرب. وفي الشرع: هو نوعان: حقيقي وتقديري؛ فالحقيقي الزيادة بالتوالد والتناسل والتجارات، والتقديري تمكنه من الزيادة بكون المال في يده أو يد نائبه بحر

الدر المختار شرح تنوير الأبصار وجامع البحار (ص: 500)

هلك المبيع من يده قبل حبسه هلك من مال موكله ولم يسقط الثمن) لان يده كيده)

فتاوى عثماني (2/ 56)

^[2]  تقريرات الرافعي (2/ 261)

قال شيخنا نقلا عن القهستاني: المراد بالملك التام القدرة علي التصرف من غير ان يلزم بهذا التصرف تبعة في الدنيا و لا في العقبي.

فتاوي محموديه (9/ 224)

جواهر الفقه (3/263)

فتاوى دار العلوم زكريا (3/143)

مسايل رفعت قاسمي (5/ 123)

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