1994. The owner is liable for the cost of weighing or measuring the wheat, barley, raisins, or dates that he wishes to give as zakÁt.
1995.If a person is liable to give 2 mithqÁls and 15 nukhÙd of silver or more as zakÁt, the recommended precaution is that he should not give less than 2 mithqÁls and 15 nukhÙd to one poor person. Similarly, if he is liable to pay something other than silver, such as wheat or barley, and its value reaches 2 mithqÁls and 15 nukhÙd, the recommended precaution is that he should not give less than it to one poor person.
1996.It is makrÙh for a person to request a deserving recipient to sell him the zakÁtthat he gave the recipient. However, if the deserving recipient wishes to sell the received item after determining its market price, the one who gave him the zakÁtwill have precedence in buying it over others.
1997. If a person doubts whether he gave the zakÁtthat was obligatory on him or not, and the property which was subject to it still exists, he will have to pay its zakÁt, even though his doubt may be with respect to previous years. However, if the property has perished, nozakÁtwill be obligatory on him, even if it be with regards to the present year.
1998.The poor cannot settle (as a settlement contract) on the zakÁtfor an amount that is less than the zakÁt, or accept an item for zakÁtat a value that is higher than its price, or take the zakÁtfrom the owner and gift it back to him. However, if a person oweszakÁt, and he has become poor and is no longer able to pay it, but wishes to repent (for not paying it), then a poor person may take the zakÁtfrom him and gift it back to him.
1999. A group of scholars (may the Lord raise their station) have stated that a person may endow (waqf) a land using the funds acquired from the zakÁt, or buy a copy of the Qur’an, a religious text, or a book of prayers and dedicate it for public use (as waqf), and he may also appoint himself or his children as trustees of the endowment.
However, it is problematic to claim that the owner has authority over the endowment, or that he can appoint a trustee without the permission of the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ.
2000. A person cannot buy property from his zakÁtand endow it for his children or to those whose maintenance is obligatory on him, so that they may use the revenue generated from the property to pay for their expenses.
2001. A person may take zakÁt from that share of it that is spent in the way of Allah (under category 7th of article 1942), to go for Hajj, ziyÁrat or a similar act of worship, even though he may not be poor, or be a poor person who has already acquired an amount of zakÁtthat is sufficient for his year’s expenses. Obligatory precaution dictates that these acts, in addition to being acts of worship, should also possess a benefit to the public, such as venerating the sacraments and propagating the faith.
2002. If the owner appoints a poor person as his agent to pay the zakÁtlevied on his property, then if the poor person entertains the possibility that the owner intended that the person himself should not partake of it, he cannot take any of the zakÁtfor himself. However, if he acquires certainty or satisfaction that the owner had no such intention, he may also take from the zakÁtfor himself.
2003. If a poor person accepts camels, cows, sheep, gold or silver as zakÁt, and the received goods come to possess the conditions—as elaborated earlier—that render zakÁtobligatory, he will have to pay their zakÁt.
2004.If two persons jointly own a property which is subject to zakÁt, and one of them pays the zakÁtof his share and then divides and distributes the property, then there is no problem if he makes use of his share, even if he knows that his partner has not paid the zakÁtof his share.
2005. If a person owes khums or zakÁt, and a kaffÁrah, nadhr or similar obligation is also incumbent upon him, and is additionally indebted, then should he be unable to pay all of them, he should pay the khums or zakÁtif the property that is subject to khums or zakÁthas not ceased to exist. If it has, obligatory precaution dictates that he proportionally distributes the wealth betweenpaying off his debt, the khums and the zakÁt. He should also give precedence to paying off these dues over paying for a kaffÁrah, or an amount that he made a nadhr to pay.
2006. If a person owes khums or zakÁt, has an obligation to perform Hajj (Hajj of Islam), and is additionally indebted, then if he dies leaving behindan estate that is not sufficient to fulfill all the obligations, hiskhums or zakÁtmust be paid first, if the property that is subject to it has not ceased to exist. The rest of his property should be divided between performing Hajj (for him) and paying off his debts.
If however that property has ceased to exist, then in the event that it is his first journey for Hajj, and he dies on the way prior to entering the state of iÎrÁm, his property must be spent for his Hajj. Then if something remains, it should be proportionally distributed between khums, zakÁtand his debts. In a case other than this, Hajj will take precedence over khums and zakÁt. However, to claim that it will also take precedence over his debts is problematic.
2007. If a person is engaged in acquiring knowledge, and is also able to work for his living expenses should he not be learning, then should acquiring that knowledge be obligatory on him in particular (wÁjib ‘aynÐ), or on the entire community (wÁjib kifÁ’iyy) and no one else proceeds towards fulfilling it, one may give zakÁtto him from the share for the poor, or the share meant to be utilized in the way of Allah. However, in the latter case, the obligatory precaution is that his learning should entail a benefit for the public interest.
If however acquiring that knowledge is recommended for him, it is not permissible to give ZakÁt to him from the share of the poor. However, it is permissible to grant it to him from the share utilized in the way of Allah, and obligatory precaution dictates that it have benefit for the general public.
If however acquiring that knowledge is neither obligatory nor recommended, it is not permissible to give zakÁtto him.
ZakÁt al-FiÔrah
2008. If a person is bÁligh and sane at the sunset of the evening preceding ‘Ðd al-fiÔr, and is not poor, nor a slave, in the sense that he experiences the month of Ramadan with these conditions, even if it be for a mere moment prior to sunset, he will have to pay one ÒÁÞ—approximately three kilograms—of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, rice or something similar, to a poor person, on behalf of himself and every person who is dependent on him. The obligatory precaution is that it should be an item that is commonly used as food in his locality. It will also suffice to give the monetary value of any one of these items. Obligatory precaution dictates that even a person who is unconscious at the sunset of the evening preceding ‘Ðd al-fiÔr should pay the fiÔrah.
2009.A person who does not possess an amount that covers his own yearly expenses, and that of his dependants, nor does he have a source of income whereby he can provide for his own and his dependants’ yearly expenses, then such a person will be considered a poor person, and it will not be obligatory upon him to pay the fiÔrah.
2010.A person must pay the fiÔrah of those who are considered to be dependent on him at the sunset of the evening preceding ‘Ðd al-fiÔr, regardless of whether they are young or old, Muslim or not, and regardless of whether paying their expenses is obligatory on him or not, be they in his city or in another city.
2011.If a person appoints his dependant who resides in another city to pay his (the dependant’s) fiÔrah from the person’s property, and the person feels assured that he will pay the fiÔrah, he will not have to pay the fiÔrah of the dependant himself.
2012.The fiÔrah of a guest who arrives prior to sunset on the evening preceding ‘Ðd al-fiÔr, with the consent of the homeowner, and is considered to be dependent on him at the time of the obligation of ZakÁt al-fiÔrah, will be obligatory on the homeowner.
2013.If a guest arrives prior to sunset on the evening preceding ‘Ðd al-fiÔr, without the consent of the homeowner, and stays with him for a period of time, then obligatory precaution dictates that both the guest himself and the homeowner should pay his fiÔrah. A similar precaution should also be observed in the case of a person who has been compelled to pay for the expenses of another person.