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Zakat On Inheritance

Question:

As salaam wa alykum. ..referring to fatwa dated….muftisaabs mentions inheritance being a weak debt….hence no zakaat on pending inheritance. …my confusion is…many people are under the assumption that in all cases no zakaat is due on inheritance until distribution ….

which in a case where executives have access to estate belongings. ..in order words there is no legal blockage to the estate….zakaat cannot be overlooked for the past years…

In the attachment I forwarded muftisaab…ml kajee mentions at the end. …that heirs take ownership as soon as a person pass away…

I feel muftisaabs email. .stating inheritance being a weak debt needs further clarification on the Internet. ..to email subscribers. ..since many are being misled on this issue….there probably a different scenario if legally the estate is frozen. ….according to some Ulama ..heirs become owners as soon as a person passes away

we have inherited a property from our father

The property has recently been sold

How is zakaat to be calculated and from when…on the cash received from the sale of the property…

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

In principle, inheritance that one does not have access to is defined as a weak debt. The ruling on weak debts such as inheritance is that there is no Zakat due on it for those previous years when one did not have any access to it.

In the enquired scenario, you will pay Zakat on your share of inheritance from the cash received from the sale of the property based on your financial status and Zakat year. You will not pay Zakat for the previous years in which you did not have possession of. [1]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Safwaan Ibn Ml Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim

Darul Iftaa
Limbe, Malawi

Checked and Approved by,

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

___________________________

[1] (1/ 170) النتف في الفتاوى للسغدي 

واما الضعيف فهو مال غير بدل عن مال مثل مهر المرأة والصلح من دم العمد والسعاية والميراث والوصية ونحوها فهذا ليس عليه زكاة ما مضى فاذا خرج منه ما يكون نصابا ثم حال عليه الحول فعليه الزكاة وهي سواء كلها عند ابي حنيفة ومحمد فإذا خرج منه شيء فانه يزكي لما مضى بعد ان يكون الدين نصابا كاملا وحال عليه الحول

 (2/ 10) بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع

وأما الدين الضعيف فهو الذي وجب له بدلا عن شيء سواء وجب له بغير صنعه كالميراث، أو بصنعه كما لوصية، أو وجب بدلا عما ليس بمال كالمهر،


This answer was collected from DarulIftaaMW.com, which is the official website of Darul Iftaa Malawi, head by Mufti Safwaan Ibrahim.
He completed his Aalimiyyah studies in Darul Uloom Azaadville and further studied his Iftaa course at Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah – both in South Africa.

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