How Do I Calculate Zakat on Moving & Non-Purchased Inventory For My Business? Ask Shaykh YQ #184

Brother Asmir from Malaysia writes that he owns a business of importing and exporting certain types of equipment. And he is wondering about or Melbourne is coming up, he gives a cut. Every year, he is wondering about the Zakat on those equipment items. He sells certain types of merchandise that when he purchases, that sometimes the merchandise, he knows he's gonna buy it, but he hasn't paid for it. And it's not arrived. And sometimes, for reasons that he didn't explain why the merchandise is sitting in his warehouse, but he has not paid for it. Okay. And sometimes he has paid for it. And it has not yet arrived. It's on the way. And of course he has merchandise in his warehouse as well. So

people come or call it the showroom is probably a better term, or it doesn't matter, really. But the point is that he has it and people can purchase they walk into the store and they purchase that particular equipment. So he's asking about the Zakat on all of these various types of scenarios.

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The answer to this question is that this issue of Zakat it goes back to the concept of Zakat on merchandise on business goods. This is an Arabic was called rule a tea jar or rule a tea jar royalty jar that which you are advertising to sell and the vast majority of scholars so much so that even among their the famous scholar who who documented unanimous consensus is math. The vast majority of scholars say that, that there is a jamaa there is unanimous consensus, even as I said, has been mentioned that there is a cat on ruled a tiara. Now technically there is not actually a mark because we had one school than one scholar, but that's beyond the scope. In reality, the default position

upon which the oma has pretty much practiced throughout all of its history. You give Zakat on business merchandise now, your question is not about that your questions about when is the cat obligatory on business merchant, as you have a business, you have a warehouse you have a you have a showroom, and you're in Malaysia, Michelle, there's about a cola, and you are purchasing goods from Europe from America. And you know, sometimes you haven't paid sometimes the good is on the way. Sometimes it has arrived, but the payment hasn't come whatever it might be. So you're wondering about those gray areas. And this goes back to yet another issue. And that is the issue of God, which

means you hold on to it. That's what the lingual linguistically translate says, and the meaning here is when do you own that merchandise? When do you take possession is maybe the technical way of saying that, when do you actually own or take possession of the item. And this is when you do that, that is when Zakat is obligatory because obviously when you don't own it and what's not in your possession, then you will not be giving Zakat on it. So the issue comes what constitutes taking possession? That's really the technical way of asking your question. And your question actually can be answered in a very long and detailed differences of opinion back and forth. But I just want to

mention that this is one of those gray areas where you will find specific definitions within all of the muda hip and the position that my teachers taught to me and the one that I feel the most comfortable giving. The position is that possession is something that is defined by one's culture, and by the norm of the industry that you're dealing with. Right. So possession is not something that there is one cookie cutter definition for every single area. Rather, it depends on your industry, and your profession. And even maybe even your time and your place. And the way that your own subculture operates. That's what is understood to be position. And so I would give you a will give

you a generic response. But I will ask you as well to ask the experts in your own line of business to ask others that are practicing Muslims in your own line of business. What do they consider to be possession or actual complete ownership? But I'll give you a generic response based upon what I would think is a reasonable understanding of the situation of warehouses and of purchasing goods. And that is that if you do if you have not purchased the good and you haven't paid any money for it, and it's just sitting somewhere but you have the intention that I'm going to buy it, there is no question that that is not in your possession. There is no question you didn't pay and the

merchandise is not with you. How is that? It's just because you have the

intention, you're not going to make a cut on an intention. There's no question about that. However, if you have the merchandise in your warehouse, but you haven't paid for it, and I don't understand how that would happen, but I'm assuming maybe they would have sent you some samples, maybe they'll send you 10 samples. And they'll tell you, if you like it, buy it, if you don't like it, then you have to return in the next year, or whatever it might be. So now you have that merchandise. Now, if you cannot sell it, and I'm assuming you cannot sell it, because you haven't paid the money, if you cannot sell it, then you don't have possession of it. Even if it's in your warehouse, okay, just

because it is in your warehouse, doesn't mean that you actually own it or have possession of it if you cannot sell. And I would assume that if the payment hasn't been given, and there's no contract, then you're not able to sell then there will not be any Zakat, because you do not own it, you must own it, there must be milkier term, there must be complete ownership for there to be Zipcar to do so complete ownership. And a part of complete ownership is up for possession when you purchase the merchandise. Now, the other question that you said, is that, what if the the merchandise that you purchased, you have paid for it, but it has not yet arrived? So it's on Route, and you have that one

day that you calculators that God because again, our brother is saying that? You know, obviously by all of the emails that come I summarize them. So he mentions that there's one particular day in Ramadan that he gives a card, and that day is coming up in one month, and Ramadan is coming up in one month. So he wants to know if the merchandise does not arrive. But it is on the way, it might come in a week or two. I know I paid for it. It's on its way from Europe, but it's not in my warehouse yet. Do I pay the card or not? And I would say and Eliza knows best and do ask other scholars and other experts in your own industry. But I would feel generically comfortable saying

that if it's not in your warehouse, and it's not in your actual possession, meaning you're not there, you cannot sell it then. And therefore in this case, there will not be as a cat do on it. Because the way that the cat is calculated on merchandise for sale is that the day of yours the cat Do you have a day of the god calendar where you decide you want to pay zakat that every year must be the same date. So the day of your Zakat, you look at your merchandise that you have in your possession, you look at your store, your warehouse, you look at the goods that you are able to sell on that day. If your merchandise has not arrived, you don't have to sell. So it will not be under

the Zakat amount. So you make the estimate of the merchandise on that day. And then you pay 2.5% of the value that is going to be advertised that is going to be sold the value of the merchandise you pay 2.5% if obviously the amount is more than the nisab, which is basically you know, the amount of golden silver and generally speaking every business owner that has multiple equipments and whatnot, you will have more than the nisab. So this is in a nutshell and again to be very, very precise with that you understand your question dealt really with another issue even though you didn't phrase it that way. And that is that when is possession finalized, when is possession finalized and I said to

you, firstly ask the experts in your particular subculture and whatnot, but secondly, a reasonable response. Possession is finalized when you have made the payment and the goods are physically in your possession and you are now able to sell them to somebody else. Even if you don't actually sell them they're in your possession. And so they're in the warehouse and somebody can if they want to they can buy it as being advertised for being sold. Then there is no question that you will give us a cut on that anything that is on route or anything you have not paid for Allah. Allah knows best, but I will tell you the default is that you do not have to give Zakat on that and Allah xojo knows

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