Waleed Basyouni – What is the Zakat on Gold & Silver Jewelry
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of giving money and currency to people, including gold for jewelry and wear. They stress the need for evidence to support their claims and the importance of dressing up with gold. The speakers emphasize the importance of establishing rules based on evidence and donating to charity. Additionally, they touch on the mix of gold and silver in jewelry and how it affects weight and fashion.
AI: Summary ©
We have a question on zakah, understanding the
obligation of zakah on gold, whether the gold
that women wear or the gold that people
keep in their homes for saving purposes, how
often should they do that and if it's
obligatory upon the jewelry that people wear.
And this is like a multiple or multifaceted
question.
So how can we understand that?
There is no doubt that the Muslim should
be giving the zakah of their wealth and
part of the wealth is what they possess
of gold and silver and what is equal
to them which is currency, today.
I just want to put in the beginning
that sometimes you might find in some of
the narration reference to giving the zakah of
gold or silver because gold and silver used
to be used as a form of currency,
not necessarily referring to the gold or silver
that people wear as a form of jewelry
to purify themselves for use.
With this being said, the Prophet said that
in the Day of Judgment, anyone who has
a gold and silver and does not give
the zakah of it, it will be turned
to be heated plates and fire and they
will be branded with it, their backs, their
sides, their forehead with it in a day
that is 150,000 years, 50,000 years.
So, that makes us take this issue serious,
making sure that we give the zakah.
Allah Almighty always mentioned in the Qur'an,
most of the time it will be associated
with the Salah, they give the zakah and
unfortunately a lot of Muslims, they don't give
the zakah accurately, correctly, on time, to the
right people and that's something people should educate
themselves.
It is al-ilm al-wajib, if you
have money, you must learn about the rules
of the zakah.
It's not something recommended, it's not an excuse
to say, I don't know, you know, ask.
Ask those who know, to ensure that you're
doing it correctly.
It's like the Salah, you don't say, I
don't know how to pray, you go and
learn how to pray.
Like your parents taught you how to pray,
but your parents did not teach you, taught
you how to give the zakah, because you
don't have money at that time.
This been said, the gold, if it is
taken as a form of, what do you
call that, al
-qawal of gold.
Lots of gold, yes.
And basically, some of them we call the
jineh dahab, you know, it's more of a
coins.
It is meant to be for saving.
In this case, if you have 85 grams
of gold, which is 24 carats, there is
a zakah on it, which is 2.5
% every year.
So, if it is meant for saving, meant
for trade, whatever it is, you know, you
have stocks, every year you have to give
2.5%, if it is 85 grams and
up.
And 595 grams of silver, that's the nisab,
if you possess that amount, 595 grams of
silver for 12 months, there is a zakah
on it as well.
So the question here, what if you have
gold that is meant for jewelry, like necklaces,
bracelets, earrings, and all these things that women
wear, you know.
In this case, we say, the fuqaha, may
Allah have mercy on them, debate over this.
The majority of the Muslim scholars said that
the women who have jewelry or gold for
use, there is no zakah on it.
You'll find this, the shafi'iyya, the madhab
al-shafi'i, Malik, and al-Hanabila, also
many of the sahabah, may Allah have mercy
on them, have taken this position, Jabir, Aisha,
reported from her, Amr ibn al-Aas, several
companions said that.
And they said, because the Prophet said, there
is no zakah on the thing that you
use.
And he gave an example of al-faras,
your home, there is no zakah because you
are using it.
Your horse that you use, there is no
zakah on it, like your car today, and
so forth.
This is the same thing.
But even if I don't use the gold
all the time, yes, even if it, as
long as the intention is a use, not
a trade, not a currency, you know, you
have to give the zakah.
What if I put, it is for use,
but just in case I can liquidate it
whenever I can.
Also the majority of the fuqaha said, no
zakah on it.
Some women have their jewelry from the wedding
days, you know, I'm going to give it
to my daughter, whatever, you know, there is
no zakah on it, because it's originally intention
of it.
But what if the intention is to use,
and also in case I need money, I
can liquidate that.
It's still, because they said, since the intention
also to use, there is maana, that prevents
the zakah here.
Also on the other hand, you have the
ahnaf, the hanafi, and some shafi'iyya, like
even it was said, this is the opinion
of Imam al-Shafi'i himself.
It was said that, and the second narration
in the Hanabilah, that there is no zakah,
there is zakah in the gold that you
wear.
And that's the fatwa that many of the
modern Hanabilah today takes, like Shaykh Al-Nashayb
al-Nathimi al-Rahimahullah, Shaykh Umar al-Baz
and others, they said there is zakah actually
in the gold that you wear, the women
that wear.
And there is evidence that the Prophet ﷺ,
once Aisha came and the Prophet ﷺ saw
her wearing a ring that is big, made
of gold.
She said, O Rasulullah, I had this made
for me to beautify myself for you, and
she was wearing it.
And the Prophet ﷺ told her, do you
give Allah's rights over this?
And we know Allah's rights over gold is
the zakah.
She said no, and he said, would you
like this to be replaced with rings from
fire?
She said no, and then she gave it
up.
Also another incident, both hadiths in the Sunnah
of Nabi Dawood, a woman came with her
daughter wearing two bracelets, thick purses of gold,
and then Nabi ﷺ asked her if she
gave the Haqqullah in it.
She said no, the same thing.
He told her, would you like Allah ﷻ
to replace this with two purses from fire?
And she gave it up.
So they said these were gold that was
used.
Also Allah ﷻ, in general, the general statement
of the Qur'an and Sunnah, asking us
to give zakah of what we have, and
did not differentiate between wear or not wear,
use or not use.
So they said, those who possess the gold
and silver, did not differentiate between possess it
for the purpose of wearing or not wearing,
the general statement.
Based on this, that's their position.
Also they said there is narration from Ibn
Mas'ud r.a, and there is another
narration from Aisha r.a, even though there
is a whole debate over the authenticity of
these particular narrations, and several of the Taabi
'in and so forth.
There is a third opinion that came in
the middle of some of the muhaqqiqiyin, some
of the fuqaha said, what's the problem, Shaykh
Ibrahim?
You might say, okay, the evidence are clear.
As a matter of fact, these two hadith,
okay, that they mentioned, also can be used
as a proof that there is no zakah.
How?
How's that?
The majority of the fuqaha said, we all
agree, in order for you to say there
is zakah on gold, it has to be
85 grams of gold, and it has to
be possessed for what?
One year.
One year.
Taabi' Aisha said, Ya Rasulullah, it just was
made for me.
And a ring will not weigh 85 grams
of gold.
Two bracelets will not weigh 85 grams of
gold.
So that shows you that the Prophet was
not talking about the zakah that we are
familiar with it.
Okay.
Clearly.
And that's how the majority of the fuqaha
understood these two hadiths.
So the Prophet was not referring to the
zakah.
He was not referring to the obligation of
zakah.
Yes.
Which is 85 grams of gold, 2.5
% every 12 months.
Because these hadiths, the Prophet did not tell
her, do you have it for 12 months?
Do you have this?
And even in Aisha, specifically, she said, it's
just made for me, for you, to beautify
myself for you.
So it's interesting, you know, how the fuqaha
are very critical, and they analyze the evidence
in a very interesting, critical way.
That led some of the scholars to come
in the middle.
And that's what really I lean towards.
They said, these hadiths established the fact that
there is something has to be given on
the gold that you wear.
But it's not the zakat, that 2.5%.
But just a sadaqah wajibah, a general sadaqah
that you give, once in your lifetime on
behalf of that gold that you possess.
So any gold that you possess for the
purpose of wearing, just give any amount of
money.
Because the Prophet did not specify what times,
or any amount.
And he did not ask her to repeat
that.
But just to give something for the sake
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And I think that position, and that opinion,
as'adu al-fariqayni bid-dalil.
He combined between all evidence.
He gives something for the sake of Allah,
and at the same time, consistent with the
concept of the regular zakat that we are
familiar with, that does not apply to the
zakat that we wear.
Because anything that you use, there is no
zakat on it.
And that's something mentioned by Shaykh Aslam al
-Bitaymiyya rahimallah and others.
And I think I found this to be,
I feel more comfortable to say that, than
just saying no, nothing to give at all,
on behalf of it.
I think there is one point left, or
two points.
In the jewelry, there is multiple type of,
the gold mix, for example, with diamonds.
Mix with platinum.
We call it white gold.
White gold is two types.
An actual gold mixed with silver, or copper,
or anything like that.
So if it's pure, or it is gold,
you have to see the percentage.
If it's gold and silver, they both have
zakat on them.
But if it's gold and copper, copper, there
is no gold on it.
Or aluminum.
Okay?
No zakat on it.
No zakat.
So you have to calculate how much the
percentage of the gold in it.
And you have it on the side.
But most of the white gold, actually, is
a platinum.
It's not gold at all.
And platinum, there is no gold, no zakat
on it.
But also diamond, there is no zakat on
it.
Stones, there is no zakat on it.
So you have to calculate only the gold
in the jewelry.
Okay.
Qahari.
What if the gold is 18 carats?
21 carats.
Not pure.
Not 24 pure.
How do you...
There's no zakat on it?
No.
There is still zakat on it.
And how is that zakat calculated?
Simple.
You see how many grams you have.
Let's say you have 150 grams of 18
carats, or 21.
So you take the amount, time, the carats,
18, 21, whatever.
Divided by 24.
Divided by 24.
Yes.
Then you find out how much the pure
gold.
If that result, 85 and more, there is
zakat.
If there is less, there is no zakat.
So let's do the formula again.
The amount of grams you have of gold,
time the carats, if it's less than 24.
Okay?
18 or 21, divided by 24, equal...
Be right.
24 is the 100%.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So the 24 to be 100%.
And that's how you calculate your zakat.
Silver, they don't mix it with anything else,
so that's good.
That should cover everything, I guess, for it.
I like the idea that you said that
there is something that you call charity, like
let's say compulsory charity, other than zakat.
Could that be expanded to someone who, let's
say, bought a car and he's enjoying it,
and is it okay to give something, but
not as an obligation, but as a form
of showing gratitude to Allah that, you know,
Allah enabled me to buy a car, enabled
me to have this house, and I'm enjoying
it, and I'm showing gratitude to Allah, I'm
giving charity.
Yeah, you can.
But we only can establish the rule based
on evidence.
So we can establish the rule of it
is good for you to give charity, Allah
bless you, because the general, give from what
Allah has given you, you know, show your
gratitude to Allah, but only because of the
Ahadith of the Prophet, and the Prophet said,
women donate, he specifically said that to them.
Because men are obligated to give zakat, so
he don't want, in that time at least,
most of women don't work, don't earn, don't
have the, they don't, the zakat mainly on
men.
So you don't want to feel, you know,
I'll have a break, no, no, you also
should feel the need for the giving, because
that purifies you and raises your level, and
a good thing to do.
Alhamdulillah, one of the things that I notice
in our community, in general here in the
West, and in Clear Lake Sun Center, our
sisters are very generous, alhamdulillah.
So donate to the masjid.
Yeah, that takes me to the point where
zakat is an obligation on the wealth, has
nothing to do with whether the owner is
a man or a woman or a child.
Yes, absolutely, that's why, let's say, your daughter
received a lot of gold gifts as she's
born or on her birthday, do we give
zakat on it or not?
There is a debate, and the opinion that
I lean towards, yes, there is zakat, because
what you just said, the zakat on the
gold itself, okay, and in this case, you
should give the zakat on that, if it
is 85 grams of gold, you should give
the zakat of your daughter or whatever you
have, even if she's still a child.
Or if you're a guardian of a child
that has wealth, that has, let's say, millions
of dollars in the bank, you're obligated to
give zakat, even though the child is damaged.
There is a khilaf, there is zakat on
al-sagheer, I think it is because, two
reasons, because the zakat has to do with
the wealth, and the zakat is the right
of the poor, so it is, yes, from
another perspective, the rules of Islam apply to
those who reach the age of puberty, but
that's when it comes to things that have
to do with hajj, salah, stuff like that,
but that's connected to you as an individual,
but also connected to other than you, which
is the poor and the right of the
community, and so forth.
Allah knows best.
Jazakallah khair, barakallah khair, that was a very
good question.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.