Do Spouses Use the Same Zakat Date After Merging Funds?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My wife and I had different zakat dates, but have now merged our funds. Which zakat date should we use when calculating zakat?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Each spouse retains their own zakat anniversary date. Merging funds does not change the date on which zakat became obligatory for each person.
Each spouse calculates and pays on their own date. However, separately, it is permissible for one spouse to pay on behalf of the other by their permission — this is agency (wakala), not a gift. [Kasani, Bada‘i al-Sana‘i; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Obligation of Zakat
Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sent Mu‘adh (Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen and said,
“Invite the people to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I am Allah’s Messenger, and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in every day and night (in twenty-four hours), and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pay the zakat from their property and it is to be taken from the wealthy among them and given to the poor.” [Bukhari]
Zakat Is an Individual Obligation
Zakat is an individual obligation. Each person’s zakat is calculated based on their own nisab and zakat anniversary (hawl), regardless of whether funds are held jointly or pooled with others.
Please use the Zakat calculator to calculate your total Zakat amount.
And Allah knows best.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Related
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Currently, he resides in the UK with his wife and is interested in reading and gardening.
