Q: One is in the process of purchasing a property and pays the deposit to a bank & not the seller of the property. The bank then issues a guarantee (to the sum of the cash deposited) in favour of the seller of the property. The guarantees will be paid over to the seller once the property is transferred into the purchaser’s name.
At one’s Zakaat date the property has not yet been transferred and the cash is still at the bank in the form of a guarantee. Is such cash then Zakaatable?
A: Once the transaction has been consented by both parties, the sale has been done and the payment becomes due. It is only a legal process that the money has been kept in trust.
( ولا في ثياب البدن ) المحتاج إليها لدفع الحر والبرد ابن ملك ( وأثاث المنزل ودور السكنى ونحوها ) وكذا الكتب وإن لم تكن لأهلها إذا لم تنو للتجارة (الدر المختار 2/265)
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)