Calculating zakaat

Q: If money has been collected with the intention of building a house, then when will zakaat be due on it?

Q: A husband has custody of the wife's jewellery. They are currently separated - the mother in law had custody of it for 22 years as it was kept as an amaanat but zakat has not been paid on this jewellery.

Q: I am a young baaligh teenager and I have a share in a business with my friend. We have not yet cashed out and split the money. The money that is owed to me is more than the nisaab amount. However, we do not have that amount of cash on hand and so that is why we have not cashed out and split the profits. Is zakaat liable on me?

Q: If a person works for some years and every year, he has to discharge zakaat for example in Dhul-Hijjah. (basically his zakaat year ends in that month and discharges zakaat then). After some years, he opens up his own business from the savings he has accumulated. Thereafter, when should he now pay out any zakaat due on him? Should such a person continue discharging zakaat in Dhul-Hijjah, or he has to take a new date because of the business? 

Q: My father passed away in June 2023, but his estate only got distributed in June 2024. Do I have to pay zakaat on the amount inherited from the date of his death or only from the time it was given to me? Part of the estate was a gold coin given to me in June 2024.

Q: If a person calculates his zakaat and keeps it separately in an envelope with the intention of discharging it but before discharging it, he passes away. Will this money form a part of the estate?

Q: Before I got married, my parents used to pay my zakaat. They used to pay it in Ramadaan.

After I got married, for 3 years I never worked out my zakaat in Ramadaan and it got left till last year. On the 1st of Zul Hijjah, I went and got my jewellery weighed and sorted out my zakaat. Gold was at its highest that it has been in years that time so I paid that amount for all the years as the jeweller said that it will be higher than the other years that I never pay. Alhamdulillah I payed off everything last year. I wanted to know for this year, am I supposed to calculate my zakaat in Ramadaan or should I now calculate it on the 1st of Zul Hijjah?

I did not calculate it in Ramadaan this year as I thought I should value it that same day as I did last year.

Q: We purchased a property in the auction in June 2019 (after zakaat calc for that year). We paid the auctioneer 10% commission and 5% deposit. The deposit was transferred to the conveyancing attorney and we further paid the attorney fees and transfer duty (these monies were misappropriated by the attorney). The balance of the purchase price was paid to our attorneys and placed as guarantee to the favour of the seller to be paid on transfer of the property. The property transfer eventually did not materialise due to various issues. The deal was formally cancelled on 11 May 2021, after zakaat calculation for this year.

1. Is zakaat payable on theses monies for the 2020 and 2021 years as we have now received refunds of these monies from the auctioneers and our attorney.

2. Also, monies misappropriated. We are still trying to recover this. What would be the position of zakaat on this?

Q: A person took a loan of R5 million from the bank which is payable over 10 years. R500 000 is payable every year of the principle debt as well as R50 000 interest.

1) When calculating zakaat, will one deduct the entire amount of R5 million as his debt or only the amount payable for the current year of R550 000 (R500 000 principle and the R50 000 interest)?

2) Does one include the interest owing as part of his debts for the zakaat calculation?

Q: A trust was formed and a property was purchased for investment purposes. Shareholders bought into the investment. A portion of the net rental are distributed to the shareholders and a portion of this net rental is held back in the trust as a cash buffer for unforseen events (e.g. Unforeseen expense). What is the zakaat implications on the cash buffer held back in the property trust?