Zakaat

The method of deducting zakaat from a loan

Q: My maid had to return me a loan of 70 thousand rupees. I made up my mind to give her 30 thousand from my zakat money. I had 15000 zakat amount with me, when I gave it to her, she asked how much is it? I said its 30,000 as by that time I totally forgot that it was 15,000 and not 30 thousand. She returned it to me without counting and said that deduct this amount 30k from your loan. Later I remembered the mistake.

Question: is 15k discharged as zakat, or 30k? Should I deduct 15k from the loan amount or 30k?

Discharging zakaat on behalf of an Alzeimers patient

Q: Zaid has one sister. She is 75 years old and is an Alzheimers patient. Her condition is such that sometimes she is unable to recognize her own daughter, always keeps on asking about her son (she actually never had any son), and is living in the past where she thinks her husband and mother are still alive (and in reality they died many years back). She doesn't remember that she has to offer salah.

While distributing their mother's inheritance money, Zaid kept his sister's 4 lakh in his bank account as amanat. There are 5 witnesses over it. He is not using this money as he fears Allah Ta'ala. The pension she gets is enough for her basic needs. Zaid wants to know if he needs to discharge his sister's zakat from her share i.e. 4 lakh rupees, or should it remain untouched as she is not in her senses?

Giving zakaat to one's brother

Q: We have a joint family system. I am financially stable but my elder brother is struggling to survive. He is married and his wife shares a kitchen with us.

My question is can i give Zakat to my elder brother? As i said we have a shared kitchen, so I'm afraid if i give Zakat to my elder brother and with that money he brings some food, so that food will be halal for me? Even though it is not my intention that my brother bring food and share with us, but if some day it happens then what should i do?

Zakaat on money received during the year

Q: If I have 20 lakh rupees in my account at the start of the year and after completion of one year this amount is increased to 30 lakh over the last twelve months gradually on monthly savings from my source of income. To my knowledge if an amount is in my possession for one year constantly, the zakat is due on that amount, therefore I assume that I should calculate my zakat on 20 lakh because the increase in my amount is month by month and full one year has not been passed over this amount. Am I correct or I should calculate my zakat on 30 lakh?