Calculating zakaat

Father taking a loan from his children for his business

Q: Kindly advise with regard to the following:

Four siblings had sold a jointly owned asset and had given their father the money which was to have been invested by him in a property. However this did not happen for whatever reason and the money remained in the father's business. Over time it was even forgotten that this money has not been invested and has merely been left in the business. The father too had completely forgotten about this money that it is lying in the business. 14 years later one of the siblings passed away. It is now two years since his demise. He has a minor child and two adult children.

Nevertheless it has now been remembered that this money is lying in the business and was not invested. The deceased sibling's share (R95000) has not yet been distributed to his heirs. The father is in the process of returning the money to all the siblings and to the estate of the deceased.

It has been established that none of the the siblings, including the deceased, had included this amount in calculating their zakaat liability. The questions are:

1. Do the living siblings have to pay zakaat on this wealth that has now been returned to them? If yes, how will this be calculated?

2. Will zakaat be payable on the share of the deceased (R95 000) for the period until his demise? If yes, who is responsible to discharge this?

3. Are the heirs of the deceased liable for zakaat upon their respective shares for the past 2 years?

Zakaat on investments

Q: I have invested 200000(2lacs) in gold business last year August 2017. The profit of which is expected to come in December 2018 of amount 1.2lac.

1. Which amount I shall consider for zakat, the invested amount or the profit or both?

2. There is some amount I have invested in the business for which I get monthly profit. So in that case also which amount shall be considered for zakat, investment amount or the monthly profit.

Zakaat on jewellery, loans and outstanding debts

Q:

1. Is zakaat mandatory on the jewellery given by the in laws at the time of nikaah, which is with me after my divorce? My ex husband told me that he will pay my meher and take that jewellery back but it's almost one and half year. Should I give zakaat of that as I am giving zakaat of my other things?

2. Is zakaat mandatory on my saved money, of last 6-8 months?

3. Is zakaat to be given on my money which was given to my ex husband as a loan, but now as we got divorced, there is less chances of repay?

4. What about the meher which is also not paid?

Calculating zakaat according to the market value

Q: Regarding zakaah on a business of which +/- R25 000 was due both in 2016 and 2017 each so a total of R50 000 is due.

Unfortunately this business did not have the cash available to discharge the zakaah when it fell due, and is currently trying to settle old debts so the zakaah payments are being held back. The said business would like to distribute stock to discharge zakaah but unfortunately the stock would be useless to a recipient of zakaah.

For example, a business which supplies/sells car batteries or a business that sells mens suits. So this business has the stock to distribute in lieu of zakaah to an organization like the local Darul Ihsaan or the Jamiat, but how does it go about discharging its zakaah by distributing stock, because the said zakaah recipients would require cash for groceries and expenses instead of a car battery.

PS. Points to note

1. Finding a buyer to purchase the zakaat stock in question, doesnt ever get you the correct price. Meaning, if I wish to distribute R25 000 in stock, the buyer generally makes a ridiculous offer of say half that value +/- R12 500 of which I then issue the cash to zakaah recipients.

2. Also note that I value stock not at retail but at cost or a reasonable market value so if an item costs me R100 and retails for R200 I generally value it at R100 of sometimes even at R75, which is way below my cost or what I paid for it but normally value it at a price that I would happily pay to purchase the same item for myself.

Giving zakaat for previous years

Q: My father saves enough money and my mother has jewellery. I know the nisaab for savings, gold and silver. As per the criteria, Zakat is wajib on my parents. Till now, in their entire life they didn't pay zakat. They did toubah (repented) for not paying it. Now how do they pay zakah for all the previous years because they don't know when they became sahib-e-nisaab.

Also determining the savings of my father for all the previous years is quit complicated. How much should they start giving from this year?

Calculating zakaat

Q: I want to know how much zakat I have to give. I have started earning on my own. How much amount after completion of one year I have to give and to whom?

Also, if I use money for construction or buying any property, is Zakat mandatory for that purchased land or home?