Question:
I was divorced recently. All my belongings (clothes, jewellery, household materials, etc.,) are still with my ex-husband and his family. We never asked them to return my belongings nor did they tell us to take it back. I have nearly 70 gms of gold. My question is that all (nearly 70gms of gold) jewellery is with my ex husbands family. I am not using this jewellery and it is not in my possession. Will I be eligible for zakat on that jewellery which is not in my possession?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
If you are the rightful owner of the gold ornaments, then all the responsibilities of the ownership of the gold ornaments will be directed to you.Not having physical ownership of the gold ornaments does not absolve you from the Shar’ee responsibility of the gold ornaments.Accordingly, you will have to calculate Zakaat on the gold ornaments by your in-laws as per your personal situation. [1]
You state that you have 70 grams of gold. If you do possess other pieces of gold jewellery, you should add these to the 70 grams of gold and calculate whether the full amount is equivalent or lesser than the Nisaab amount. If the total amount of gold is equal or more than the Nisaab amount, one will be obligated to pay Zakaat on the gold. [3]
If you posses silver, you should join the silver to the gold and if the value of them combined reaches the Nisaab of either gold or silver, then Zakaat is obligatory.[4]
In principle, if the percentage of gold in the ornaments is more than the alloy, then the entire ornaments will be considered as Zakaatable.[5] The total value of the gold ornaments will then be added to your Zakaatable assets when calculating Zakaat[6]. However, if the total amount of gold in the ornaments do not exceed the amount of alloy, then the entire ornament would not be Zakatable. Rather, the value of the actual gold will be added to the total Zakatable assets when calculating Zakaat.
Kindly refer to the following table for more details on calculating Zakaat:
| Personal Wealth | Amounts: |
| 1. Amount of Cash and Savings at home or in the bank | R 10,000 |
| 2. Current value of any gold and silver jewelry, coins, utensils etc | R 5,000 |
| 3. Value of assets and merchandise for trade | R 20,000 |
| 4. Receivables and loaned amounts to others | R 5,000 |
| Total these amounts here: | R 40,000 |
| Amount Debts to be paid: | R 20,000 |
| Subtract the total amount of debts for the year from the above amount. | |
| Nett Total of Zakatable Wealth | R 20,000 |
| if the net total of Zakatable Wealth is more than the Nisab amount then… | |
| Multiply the nett total by 2.5% (nett amount x 0.025) | R 500 |
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
1 هي تمليك مال مخصوص لشخص مخصوص، فرضت علي حر مسلم مكلف مالك لنصاب من نقد و لو تبرا أو حليا أو آنية أو ما يساوي قيمته (نور الايضاح، ص 208- 209)
نصاب الذهب عشرون مثقالا و الفضة مائتا درهم (تنوير الأبصار، ج 2، ص 295، ايج ايم سعيد)[2]
و المعتبر وزنهما أداء وجوبا (تنوير الأبصار، ج 2، ص 297)[3]
و لو بلغ بأحدهما نصابا دون الآخر تعين ما يبلغ به (تنوير الأيصار، ج 2، ص 299)[4]
و ما غلب علي الغش فكالخالص من الدين (نور الايضاح، ص 214)[5]
و أما المستفاد في أثناء الحول فيضم الي مجانسه (نور الايضاح، ص 210)[6]
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