Question: Does a widow woman have to pay zakat? Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah, I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next. If a widow fulfills t

Question:
Does a widow woman have to pay zakat?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and
spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the
next.
If a widow fulfills the conditions of zakat being due, then she would
have to pay zakat, like any other morally responsible Muslim.
Search for related answers in the SunniPath QA (http://qa.sunnipath.com).
And Allah alone gives success.

1] Reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness

1]
When is it prescribed for aworshipper to do the prostration of forgetfulness?.
Praise be to Allaah.
By the mercy of Allaah to His slaves, as one of the beauties of this
perfect religion, Allaah has prescribed that His slaves may make up
for shortcomings and mistakes that they make in their worship and
cannot avoid completely, by performing supererogatory (naafil) acts of
worship, praying for forgiveness and so on.
One of the things that Allaah has prescribed for His slaves to make up
for shortcomings that may occur in their prayer is theprostration of
forgetfulness, but it is only prescribed to make up for certain
things; it does not make up for everything nor is it prescribed for
everything.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about
the reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness, and he replied
as follows:
The prostration of forgetfulness in prayer is generally prescribed for
three reasons:
1- Doing something extra
2- Omitting something
3- Being uncertain
Doing something extra: for example, doing an extra bow (rukoo'),
prostration (sujood), standing or sitting.
Omitting something: such as omitting an essential part of the prayer,
or omitting one of the obligatory parts of the prayer.
Being uncertain: such as when a person is not sure how many rak'ahs he
has prayed, whether it was three or four, for example.
In the case of doing something extra, if a person adds something tohis
prayer – bowing, prostrating, standing or sitting – deliberately,
thenhis prayer becomes invalid, because when he added it, that means
that he did not do the prayer in the manner ordained by Allaah and His
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever does an
action that is not part of this matter of ours (i.e., Islam),will have
it rejected." Narrated by Muslim, 1718.
But if he did that extra thing by mistake, then hisprayer is not
invalidated, but he should do the prostration of forgetfulness after
saying the salaam. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of Abu
Hurayrah (may Allaahbe pleased with him) whosaid that when the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said the salaam after two
rak'ahs in one of the two afternoon prayers, either Zuhr or 'Asr, and
they told him about that, he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) did the rest of the prayer, then he said the salaam, then he
prostrated twice (the prostration of forgetfulness) after sayingthe
salaam. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 482; Muslim, 573.
And Ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led them in
praying Zuhr and he prayed five rak'ahs. When he had finished it was
said to him: "Has something been added to the prayer?"
He said: "Why are you asking that?"
They said: "You prayed five (rak'ahs)."
So he turned towards the qiblah and prostrated twice. Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 4040; Muslim,572.
In the case of omitting something, if a person omits one of the
essential parts of the prayer, one ofthe following two scenarios must
apply:
Either he remembers it before he reaches the same point in the
following rak'ah, so he has to go back and do that essential part of
the prayer and whatever came after it,
Or he does not remember it until he reaches the same point in the
following rak'ah, in which case the following rak'ah takes the place
of the one in which he omitted that essential part, and he should make
up the invalid rak'ah.
In either of these two cases, he should do the prostration of
forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
For example: a man stoodup after doing the first prostration of the
first rak'ah and did not sit or do the second prostration.When he
started to recite Qur'aan he remembers that he had not done the second
prostration or sat between the two prostrations. In that case he
should go back and sit as between the two prostrations, then
prostrate, then stand up and do whatever is left of his prayer, and do
the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
An example of one who did not remember until after he reached the
samepoint in the following rak'ah is a man who stoodup following the
first prostration in the first rak'ah and did not do the second
prostration or sit between the two prostrations, but he did not
remember that until he sat between the two prostrations in the
secondrak'ah. In this case he should make the second rak'ah the first
rak'ah, andadd another rak'ah to his prayer, then say the salaam then
do the prostration of forgetfulness. :->

1b] Permissibility of and Zakat on 401k plan &other securities

1b]
Since lawful 401K plans are considered business investments, the money
invested does not come under the definition of being a debt and thus
zakāt is necessary each year as long as the total amount (along with
any other savings a person has, minus any debts) meets the zakāt
quantum [nisāb] which is approximately $140. One is obliged to pay 2.5
percent on the total value of one�s investments (which includes one�s
owninvestment, along with any amount added by one�s employer that has
vested [i.e. the money is now considered the employees since some
companies release the amounts contributed by themselves in
installmentsso the employees cannot take the whole amount at once],
and any gain or profits that have since been accumulated. In other
words the zakātableamount will be the amount a person would consider
his or hers at thattime even if he was to leave his employment.
For instance, if a person�s total personal investmentsin his or her
401K plan are$5,000.00 along with$2,500.00 matched by the employer,
then the zakāt will be 2.5% of $7,500.00 which is $187.50 for that
year.
If he or she has an additional $2,500.00 in other zakātable assets
likecash in hand or inventory, etc. then the total zakātable income
is$10,000.00, hence, his zakāt will be $250.00 for that year.
Any penalty amount or taxes that one would haveto pay if they did a
premature withdrawal of their investment are not exempted from the
total zakātable income each year, unless a person makes such a
withdrawal or cancels his or her plan. In this case he or she would
only pay zakāt on the amount left on the day the zakāt becomes due
after deducting any penalties or taxes.
And Allah knows best.

1a] Permissibility of and Zakat on 401k plan &other securities

1a]
upon maturity. Investing in Certificates of Deposition is
impermissible because thegains of the investment are earned from
interest.
Stocks
A Stock, Share, or Equity , is a type of security that signifies
ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the
corporation's assets and earnings. There are two main types of stock:
common and preferred. Common stock usually gives the shareholder
voting rights and allows them to receive dividends declared by the
company. Preferred stock generally does not have voting rights, but
has a higher claim on assets and earnings than the common shares. For
example, owners of preferred stock are given priority over owners of
common stock in the event of bankruptcy
It is permissible to invest in common stocks as long as the company
one is investing is in compliance with the following conditions (as
highlighted below by Justice Mufti Taqi Uthmani, a renownedand
respected scholar in the field of finance and economics):
1. The main business of the company is not in violation of Shari�a.
Therefore, it is not permissible to acquire the shares of the
companies providing financial services on interest, like conventional
banks, insurance companies, or the companies involved insome other
business not approved by the Sharī�a, such as the companies
manufacturing, selling or offering liquors, pork, harām meat, or
involved in gambling, night club activities, pornography etc.
2. If the main business of the companies is halāl, likeautomobiles,
textile, etc. but they deposit there surplus amounts in a
interest-bearing account or borrow money on interest, the share holder
must express his disapproval against such dealings, preferably by
raising his voice against such activities in the annual general
meeting ofthe company.
3. If some income from interest-bearing accounts is included in the
income of the company, the proportion of such incomein the dividend
paid to theshare-holder must be given charity, and must not be
retained by him. For example, if 5% of the whole income of a company
has come out of interest-bearing deposits, 5% of the dividend must be
given in charity.
4. The shares of a company are negotiable only if the company owns
some non-liquid assets. If all the assets of a company are in liquid
form, i.e. in the form of money that cannot be purchased or sold,
except on par value, because in this case the share represents money
only and the money cannot be traded in except at par. [Please visit
http://albalagh.net/Islamic_economics/finance.shtml for complete fatwa
and explanations]
Now that we understand the independent rulings ofthe securities
mentioned above, we are given a better picture of what types of 401k
plans wouldbe lawful and unlawful to invest in. Based on what we have
examined it is therefore permissible to invest in a 401K plan as long
as the mutual fund selected is in compliance with the Sharī�a.
The problem that arises atthis point is that the majority of the funds
offered by companies for this plan do not include Islamic funds (such
as the Dow Jones Islamic Fund) or even ethical funds, (which are not
necessarily lawful since they may not meet all the requirements to be
in compliance with the Sharī�a). Nevertheless, if a Sharī�a compliant
fundis offered then it would bepermissible to invest in it as part of
one�s 401k plan.In this regard any amount matched or contributed
byone�s employer toward the 401K plan is also permissible.
Existing Investments in non-lawful 401k plans
As for 401K investments already held in an unlawful mutual fund,
oneshould opt to switch his orher holdings out of the existing fund
and reallocate the money into a Shari�a compliant Fund . In the case
where one�s company does not includeany lawful mutual funds then one
may be able to make such a request, like including the Dow Jones
Islamic Funds as an option. If this is not a possibility then it would
be necessary to withdraw the funds from one�s plan and either transfer
over (roll over) to another lawful plan (such as a brokerage IRA
consisting of lawful stocks) or consider other investing venues, even
though therewill be a penalty for an early withdrawal. Whatever money
is received by the person in this case, only the original capital
amount invested by the person and that which has been added by one�s
company will be permissible for one to retain. All excess will have to
be disposed off to the poor without intention forreward.
Zakāt on 401k plans
Given that one cannot withdraw from 401K plansuntil one is 59.5 years
old without facing a penalty, the question comes up as to how and when
zakāt needs to be paid on this. :->