Q. If one reads a passage of the Qur’an that includes one of the 15 verses that require a prostration, or sujood, one must do the prostration and then rise to continue his recitation. But what is the procedure if one is reading Surah 96, Al-Alaq, in which the prostration verse is the last in the surah?

M.M.R. Yacoob

A. To start with, a prostration when we read these verses is recommended, i.e. a Sunnah, not an obligation. If one is reading the Qur’an and he goes through any of these 15 verses without doing a prostration, he does badly but he commits no offense. He simply deprives himself of the reward of that prostration. The same applies in prayer. However, it is much better to do the prostration as it signifies submission to God. If one reads any such verse in prayer, he is strongly recommended to offer a prostration immediately after completing that verse, or at the spot when the prostration is due. He subsequently rises and continues his recitation. However, if he is reading Surah 96 he may prostrate himself after its last verse and then rise to continue his recitation, reading Surah 97, Al-Qadr. Alternatively, he may do his bowing and normal prostration, without adding an extra prostration. In this case, he intends his obligatory prostration to double up as a prostration for reading this verse.

What we should always remember is that when we say that something is a Sunnah, or recommended, we mean that it is not obligatory. Of course it is always better to do what is a Sunnah, and it increases our reward. However, in this case when we are already engaged in prayer and we prostrate ourselves to God as part of our prayer, we are in fact fulfilling what is recommended, albeit a short while later.

Rent and Zakah

Q. Someone lives on the income he receives as rent of properties he owns. At times he is forced to sell a property in order to meet some emergency expenses. What zakah he should pay on such rent and proceeds of sale. He has been advised that rent income is equal to interest income. Please comment.

S.R. Khan

A. I am not sure what is meant by the last sentence in the question, equating rent with interest. If this person has been advised that rent is equivalent to bank interest which the majority of scholars equate with usury, which is unquestionably forbidden in Islam, then such advice is certainly mistaken. Rent is compensation received in return for the benefit or utility of something hired. As such it is perfectly legitimate earning, and it is unanimously pronounced as permissible. Usury is an excess amount of money that a lender receives from a borrower for nothing other than lending the money. Thus it is the fruit of exploitation of the need of the borrower. As such it is forbidden.

Zakah is payable on the net rent received, after the deduction of any expenses the owner incurs as a result of the rental. Thus, if one has to pay commission to an estate agent for arranging the rent, or a lawyer’s fee for writing the contract, or to carry some maintenance work, one deducts these from the rent and pays zakah on the net income.

In order to pay zakah on rent, one must be a zakah payer in the first place, which means that he owns more than the threshold of zakah, which is equivalent to 85 grams of gold. If the owner of the rented property is such a zakah payer, he adds the net rent received to his assets when he calculates his zakah liability.

The reader, however, mentions that the rent is used to pay for one’s living expenses. If the owner does not have the threshold of zakah over and above his immediate living expenses, then he is not a zakah payer. If he uses the rent as basic income to cover his own, or his family’s expenses, then no zakah is due on him. His case is the same as that of an employee who receives a monthly salary and uses it for his living. If he has no other assets, no zakah is due on him. Such cases are often encountered with retired employees or widows. They need not pay zakah unless their income gives them some surplus over and above meeting their needs.