Zakah On Lent Amount

July 10, 2024

2 min read 2 min

Question

Does a believer have to pay Zakah on lent money? If I have given somebody a loan to repay me after three years, does that money have to be accounted for Zakah after an yea? What amount is zakahable (nisaab) in USD?

Answer

I understand you want to learn if you pay for example 300,000 rupees to a friend for three years then are you obliged to include this money in zakatable assets while paying the yearly zakah. The answer is no. You only include the assets that you have in your hands. It would not be out of place to mention that it is not necessary for an asset to be zakahable to be in your possession for a year. The Shari’ah ruling in this regard is that you determine a date for the payment of zakah every year. For example you decide to pay the zakah on the first of Ramadan. Now all the amount that is in your possession on that day will be zakated regardless of the matter it came in your hands a day before or eleven months or more.

As for the question of nisab in the US dollar please note that the currencies continue furcating and the Shari’ah has determined the exemptions in terms of kind. For productions the exemption is 5 wasaqs/653 kilograms of dates and for wealth it is 5 uqiyahs/642 grams of silver. We need to convert the market value of these items in the currency we use at the date of payment.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-02-25