I would be grateful if you could clear my doubts regarding zakat. I work as a medical transcriptionist and earn on an average of Rs. 25000 a month. I am yet to own a house and presently living in a rented house. I have purchased a site and construction is on. I have debts to repay on the site purchased and also have a loan on constructing the house too. In short, although I earn Rs. 3 lakh a year or sometimes more, I never had an amount equal to the nisab level in my possession due to servicing of the loan amount. My monthly household expenses come to around Rs. 11,000, sometimes more but not less. I always fear Allah that since I am earning around Rs. 3 lakh or more a year, I should pay zakat but thought that I will not be able to possess an amount to reach nisab level unless I repay my debts completely. Someone told me that salaried people can calculate their zakat on a monthly basis after deducting their expenses. But after deducting my expenses of Rs. 11,000 and instalment towards repayments, I am left with nothing. However, I just calculated only my expenses without instalments for repaying loan and calculated zakat for the remaining amount in salary and left it in my account for the past two months to pay zakat when it accumulates a year or as and when a needy relative approaches us.
My question is whether what I am doing is correct or not. My second question is whether zakat amount can be utilized in helping our poor relatives like sister-in-law and brother-in-law to marry off their daughters as the expenses for the marriage is a burden on them?
I would be thankful if you could reply me with an email soon. Awaiting your reply.
Mohammed Hashim, Palakkad
Maqbool Ahmed Siraj replies
Dear Mr. Hashim
Let us have a few clear guidelines regarding zakat. Zakat is farz (obligatory) for those who have savings whose value exceeds that of the nisab. Secondly, these savings should have stayed with the individual for a calendar year i.e., 355 days (according to the lunar calendar). If your earnings and expenditure are equal (balance off each other) and you are left with nothing at the end of the year by way of savings, you are not supposed to pay any zakat. This is all about your earnings and expenditure. However, if you (your wife or dependants) have any gold or silver jewelry (i.e., 88 gram of gold or 653 gms of silver) and has stayed with you/them for a clear one calendar year, you should take out an amount equivalent to 2.5 % of their value and spend it to help the poor or needy among relatives, neighbours and other members of the society. Zakat money could be given to anyone who is not dependant on you (spouse, parents and the offspring come under the category of dependants). Your siblings as well as their spouses can be helped with this amount. Poor relatives should be preferred over others.
Now let us turn to another part of your question. You feel a prick of conscience that since you are earning and spending Rs. 3 lakh a year, you feel like paying zakat, hence you are leaving some amount in the bank to pay zakat. Let us be clear that zakat is not obligatory on what you are spending. It is on savings and also the savings that have turned into assets. (An elaborate list of zakat worthy assets is published every year in the Ramazan issue of Islamic Voice. See archives in the website for this purpose.) So what should be clear to you is that you need not pay any zakat as of now.
However, charity or sadaqa is not bound with nisab. You can give any amount of sadaqa out of your spending to the poor and the indigent people. For this there is no prescribed limit and Allah will reward you bounteously for any amount you spend by way of charity.
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January 2012 |