Omer El-Hamdoon – Taraweeh Reminder #17 – Understanding Zakat
![Omer El-Hamdoon](https://artwork.muslimcentral.com/omer-el-hamdoon-150x150.jpg)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
La Romana Rahim al hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah who Allah and he also having an Euler by the respective brothers and sisters salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. May Allah Subhana Allah accept from us and from you the good deeds in sha Allah, Allah And may Allah Subhana Allah allow us and enable us to do more of the good deeds in this blessed month. Today I want to talk about a very important pillar of Islam which sometimes is misunderstood or confused. And that is the pillar of
Zakat is a pillar of Islam. We know that from the Koran we know that from the Hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam It is part of the duty of the Muslim to pay zakat and as a cat is not just a financial obligation, but it is also importantly it's an A bad it's an evidence you have to have the right intention you'll be shouldn't be doing it with sincerity to get the reward as occur. So, rather than your money just coming out or from your pocket or bank account, whatever, it is actually something you'll be rewarded for insha Allah to Allah now, the cat means linguistically purification or it means growth, because when you give us a cat, you are purifying yourself, you are purifying
your wealth and you are in Sharla growing as you are doing that, now, essentially the cat is paid in different categories of wealth, it is paid on the financial money that you own the cash if you like the the Sterling, the dollar, the gold, the silver, whatever it is it you have to pay on wealth, your accumulated wealth, this will include savings in your bank account, it will include money in your pocket, it will include also debts if you have loaned somebody some money and you are anticipating that this money will come back, this is all this all will pay the cash what does that mean just to stop on that point, if you have given somebody 1000 pounds as a debt, and you is due to
pay you back say even in five years now that 1000 pounds is yours isn't it is with somebody else at the moment, but it is still yours. So you still have to pay this account on it. unless that person is such severe debt crisis that you said it this, there's probably no chance I'm going to get this money back then you can discard it from this account amount. All this is a cat is also paid on other things which we will not discuss in detail because I don't think it's applicable. I don't think there's any farmers amongst you here so paying Zakat on the fruits and the seeds and things like that that are grown. Or some of you might be herdsmen, with your flock of sheep in your garden or
the camels or or,
or the cows or or the like and again, I was I don't think there's many of you like that. So we will not discuss that either. There is another form of Zakat which is paid on, on
things that you find any treasures that you find, again, I'm not going to discuss that. So with regards to money and wealth, and then the other aspect is regards to stocks and shares. So if you have money in your account,
and that money is like essentially a savings of money, so it's been there for a whole year a whole lunia and then you have to pay zakat on that which is equivalent to 2.5% of wherever you are and this will also include
like I said, the debts It will also include money that is essential assets. So it's something that is there of value, this could be a savings account, it could be a pension account as well it could be anything either if you have brought
so in terms of finances, that's what it is. Yeah. Now, golden silver question on that especially for women. Do I have to pay is a cat on my gold and silver that you know my jewelry. Now if you own gold nuggets or all these gold
bars, now that's obviously not jewelry, you're not going to be wearing a gold bar around your neck. So that is actually like money. But if you are wearing if you have jewelry, earrings, necklaces, etc that Maria Mr t amongst you with all this gold around his neck, now if it is something that you are wearing, so the woman is wearing the jewelry
so it is used.
Then according to the majority of the scholars, you don't pay zakat on that so any jewelry that is being
used, you don't pay zakat.
If however, there is jewelry, which is not being used, and it is only been war, it's only been
bought for the sake of keeping as a treasure, you know, as almost like a saving. I know some women,
probably not not in the UK, but maybe in the Middle East, and maybe in the south, South Asia etc. They actually buy, you know, whenever they work, or they have some sort of money savings, they change that rather than keep that money in the bank they buy as jewelry. So then they say, Well, this is jewelry, I can wear it, but at the same time is gold, gold keeps its value is not going away. Now, if you're buying the jewelry for the sake of just keeping it as a treasure, then you're going to have to pay zakat on that. The other thing is, is that it has the amount of jewelry has to be reasonable. And it has to be custom according to custom, what is acceptable for a woman in that
society. So we know for example, women in India or Pakistan, they like gold, they wear a lot of gold, but a woman maybe in the UK might not wear as much gold, you know, I have a couple of earrings or one or two rings, not a lot of gold. And it's not so as customly what is acceptable. So if it's customary if you are a like a Mr. or Mrs. T, and you customly wear all these gold chains around your neck and is worth one. But again, I'll say Mr. T is an exception to the rule he's not you know, you don't find people
usually going around like that is not a norm. So it's about a custom that's the main thing if it's not if it's, you know, probably one time you know, a person would think No, no, I'm gonna make sure all my guys wore all my gold is worn. So I don't pay any as a Catholic any for all your, all your gold and everything on you to try and avoid paying Zakat on there. So we have to be looking at the customs in that regard. Another question that is usually raised is regard to, if I'm if I'm buying and selling, I have stocks, I have shares, maybe I have property, etc. Now, if you have things which are considered tools of your trade, you're a plumber,
or Carpenter was at some time, sometimes you might have tools which are worth, you know, 5000, maybe 10,000. Well, you might have bought a van which is you need a part of your trade is not your domestic van. So this, these kinds of tools, even though there might be worth, they're very expensive. You don't pay zakat on them because they're considered tools of your trade. And in that regard, as well, if you have bought a house, for the sake of renting the house only renting it, then you don't pay zakat on that value. But say you bought a house for 200,000 pounds. And your your purpose of that purchase is just to rent the house out and get that so this becomes like a tool now,
so you don't pay zakat on them.
However, if you buy a house, intending to sell it, meaning renovate it and sell it, now the house has become like a like an item. It's like a trading item. Therefore, you're going to pay zakat on that if that obviously if that how stays within your property within your portfolio for more than a year. And similarly goes with anybody who has any businesses as well, you have to basically assess how much value of stuff you have after a year, or whatever you assess the value of that you're going to pay, according to that in Sharla, the amount of Zika.
Now, going back to importance about Zika Zika is an A bad it's something that has rules and regulations is not something that unfortunately some people have misplaced the whole concept of the cat. And unfortunately I say this unfortunately but there are lots of LMR today who will also
changed the categorization of the cat and have put a lot of things inside there's a cat category
which again, is very, very
I don't want to use the wrong word. But it's a question mark let's say at least a question mark. So for example, the cat money cannot be used to build a Masjid it cannot be used to build a school. It cannot be used to dig a well these kind of things is not where you would give Zakat money is a cat money has specific categories which are clearly mentioned in the Quran in surah, a Toba and that's where the
money should be given. I know some people have entered the concept the consequence, the issue of that hour and the card can be given for helping dour and etc and then they have just
widen the scope very much and so you have to be Be careful what I say is that you know, if somebody was a cat and they want to pay is a cat Then why don't they just give charity and it's not like it's a big deal if you can if you got a you know you want to use 1000 pounds you want to give you are only giving it as as a cat Why don't you just give give us some charity you know, so, either pass or fail you can give however, you want. Similarly, we have seen organizations use the cat money to sponsor activities, which again are not as accountable activities and that has to be a very important aspect of a person takes into consideration when thinking about the whole concept of zeca.
And remember, the cat is a band so it is an intention. So you give
if you give a charity to somebody say you somebody asked you some money, you gave them 100 pounds as a charity and then after you went home and you said oh actually you know I need to pay my car. I'll just count that $100 as a car No, doesn't work like that. Because a car is a charity and a bad and a bad has had the intention accompanying it at the beginning of it or at least close to it. So you have your intention has to be I'm giving this as a car. The moment that you give that as a car for that to be a correct. I hope that's been useful. If you have any questions on the car, please do, send them through inshallah, we hope to ask