Zakat On Stocks And Shares

Question:
I have a zakat question on stocks and shares. There are two type of
Shares, listed which vary daily with market forces and non-listed
which have fixed price, is zakat payable on the total value of each or
is the non-listed exemptedfrom zakat?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
To begin with, it should always be remembered that paying Zakat on
stock and merchandise is obligatory (wajib). The jurists (fuqaha) have
categorically stipulated the obligation of paying Zakat on
merchandise, and there is a consensus on this position amongst the
scholars ofthe Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama�ah.
Sayyiduna Samura ibn Jundub (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that,
�the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to
command us to pay Zakat on those items that were for sale.� (Sunan Abu
Dawud, no: 1557)
Thus, based on this, if one has shares in a particular company, paying
Zakat on those shares will be obligatory. In the case of shares being
purchased with theintention of capital gain, Zakat will be obligatory
on the face/market value of the shares.
For example, I purchased some shares at the rate of 5 Dollars with the
intention of selling them when their value increases.Now, at the time
of paying Zakat,the value of the share became 10 Dollars, thus Zakat
will be obligatory on the current value which is 10 Dollars and not 5
Dollars. The reason is that the share itself has become an articleof
trade, for it was purchased with the intention of re-sale, andZakat is
obligatory on the current market value of goods and merchandise.
However, if shares were purchased with the intention of receiving the
annual dividend, then one is allowed to subtract the value of those
items which are exempted from Zakat, i.e. machinery, land, furniture,
cars, etc... This information (on the percentage of non�Zakat-able
assets) can be obtained from thecompany�s annual report.
This will be clearer with an example. Suppose I purchased some shares
of a particular firm worth 100 Dollars. Now, 10% of the company�s
assets are in the form of raw material, 10% in theform of cash, 10%
are produced goods and 10% of the assets aregoods which are under
process of being manufactured, totaling 40%. On the other hand,
machinery, land, furniture, and cars (for use and not sale) total 60%.
In this case, Zakat will be obligatory on only 40% of the shares, i.e.
40 Dollars.
The reason being that the share in this case does not become an
article of trade in of itself; rather one has purchased the share with
the intention of receiving a share of the company�s annual profits.
Hence, one is considered having ownership in the company�s assets to
the value of his share. Thus, it will be permitted not to pay Zakat on
those items that are exempt from Zakat, such as machinery, furniture,
and building.
If one is unable to obtain the details from the company, then one
should pay Zakat on the current market value of the whole share.
In light of the above, it becomes clear that Zakat is payable on all
types of shares. If non-listed shares mean those that are purchased
with the intention of gaining the annual dividend, then Zakat will
have to be paid inthe manner outlined above.
And Allah knows best

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.