Q. My mother passed away and she left behind gold and silver jewellery as inheritance for her heirs but she did not pay the Zakaat on it for almost 10 years. Is it permissible for her heirs to accept the jewellery as inheritance?
A. In the inquired case, it was the responsibility of your deceased mother to discharge the Zakaat on her gold and silvery jewellery during her lifetime. If she did not discharge the Zakaat on her jewellery during her lifetime, it was her duty to record it in her will for it to be discharged from one third of her estate upon her demise. If she had not recorded it in her will to be discharged from one third of her estate upon her demise, then her heirs are absolved of any responsibility to discharge the Zakaat on the jewellery. In such a case, it will be permissible for her heirs to accept their inheritance without being responsible for discharging the deceased Zakaat on the jewellery. However, by the heirs discharging the deceased Zakaat on her jewellery from their own shares, the deceased would be absolved of any consequence in the hereafter Inshallah.
Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ismaeel Bassa