Fatwaa ID: 839

Question:
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
If a woman has e.g R100000 and she borrows it all to someone & is left with nothing
Does she have to pay zakaat on the money & if so how does she do so when she has no money ?
If she has to pay zakaat once the person gives her back the money
And the money is only given back after a few years & by the time she gets her money back, due to the calculations of zakat over the years added together she has to give the full R100 000 in zakat
Is this what she would have to do ?

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

It is not clear why a person would loan all his wealth to someone else. That may not be in the best interests of a person. Nevertheless, the zakaah of a loaned amount is on the creditor. He may pay its zakaah annually or once he receives the loan back, in which case he will backdate it for all of the previous years.

In the enquired situation, if you do not have funds currently to pay for its zakaah, then you will pay its zakaah once you receive it back. “Few years” is about 40 years in the enquired situation. I am not sure if anyone will give a loan for that long. In the event that you do, then yes, the entire amount will now be given away in zakaah. Shari’ah is not responsible for your loaning to others.

Zakaatable wealth has the potential of growth. One is encouraged to grow it and use it appropriately. Keeping it stagnant is not good for oneself nor the economy.

And Allaah Ta’aala knows best.
Mufti Muajul I. Chowdhury
Darul Iftaa New York
https://askthemufti.us/

وصل اللهم وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى ءاله وصحبه أجمعين

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