Q. UPON WHOM IS ZAKAAT FARDH AND WHEN DOES ZAKAAT BECOME FARDH UPON A PERSON?
A: The conditions for Zakaat to be Fardh (Obligatory) upon a person are as follows:
- A person has to be a Muslim. (Kuffaar do not have to give Zakaat)
- A person has to be free. (Today slavery does not exist. When slavery existed, Zakaat was not Fardh upon slaves)
- A person has to be sane. (Zakaat is not Fardh on insane people)
- A person has to be Baaligh. (Zakaat is not Fardh on those that have not yet attained puberty – immature persons)
- A person needs to be the owner of the Zakaat Nisaab. (Nisaab is the minimum amount which a person must have for Zakaat to be Fardh upon one’s self. One needs to contact the Ulama in order to find out what is the Nisaab amount. A person who has less than the Nisaab amount, does not have to pay Zakaat. The Zakaat Nisaab is the value of 612 grams silver)
- The Nisaab must be over and above one’s basic needs and debts. (If a person has the Nisaab amount after deducting his basic expenses, but he has a debt which if deducted, would make him/her have less than the Nisaab amount, then Zakaat is not Waajib upon such a person)
- After owning the Nisaab amount, a year has to pass for Zakaat to be Fardh upon the owner of the Nisaab amount. (A person got the Nisaab amount, but he did not have it for a full year, for example he had on 1 Muharram the Nisaab amount, but at the end of the year 30 Zul Hijjah, he did not have the Nisaab amount, it is not Fardh upon such a person to discharge Zakaat. Always remember that one’s year begins when one has the amount of Nisaab.)