i have never really payed this much attention to this matter but i would like to know from wat age must a man start paying zakaat, iz it when u start work and u have a good annual income from which u pay for ur basic needs and the remaining is income on which zakaat is calculated???
and secondly how often should u pay zakaat? once a year or…
Zakat is farz when you are "sahib-e-nisaab", you don't have to be "money making" for that. Zakat is due every year on your assets. Real estate property which is in your use is excluded. Properties like cash, stocks, real estate for trading are to be added while loans are subtracted (not the mortgage though). The property MUST have been in your possession for at least one year. For example, your bank account varied from $1000 to $5000. Zakat is on $1000, but always good to be on safe side to pay higher (on $5000) but not FARZ.
Scholars recommend paying Zakat in Ramadan as this month's deeds carry multiple-sawab.
changez, why is mortgage excluded, after all it is a loan
Fraudia, I don't have the exact reason right now, but this is what I have learnt.
shukriya changaiz khan i appreciate it
Changez
if you can find out i would really appreciate it, good for general knowledge.
Frauds.. mortgage is normally excluded because it is against an asset which is not included in the first place. So you can't take a liability out, where you don't include corresponding asset.
The house is not included because it is used to live in. Zakat is only on those assets which are not used. If you have rental property, you don't include that either.
The only way you will include the property is if it is lying unused. For example, if you bought some property and did not use it at all during the year (piece of land etc), then you will add that in your assets, and any mortgage on that property will be taken out, to calculate net assets.
I hope its clear.
Fraudia:
Here is one link which shows what I meant, though this link is not to the ACTUAL fatwah but it shows the same understanding as I mentioned.
I think the reason of not counting “mortgage” as loan is that in most circumstances you can sell the house and be able to pay the mortgage, hence you really are not in debt. You have the capability to pay it off by selling it.
This may raise other questions like besides mortgage you are in debt but the equity in house is more than your other debt, do we still pay zakat? Answer to this question will help the real reason of not counting mortgage towards your debt.
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*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Frauds.. mortgage is normally excluded because it is against an asset which is not included in the first place. So you can't take a liability out, where you don't include corresponding asset. ...
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In that case, if a person is in debt besides mortgage and his other loan is less than equity in the house he still does not pay zakat, right?