Q. I have some properties that I let out to cover my living expenses. Sometimes, I have to sell a property in order to cover some extraordinary expenses. How does this affect my zakah liability? How do I calculate my zakah? Some people suggest that the rent received from property letting is like interest. Please comment.
S.R. Khan
A. To suggest that rent is like interest is a gross misconception. The two are totally different. Interest is a gain given by the bank for the deposit of funds in an account with the bank, implicitly indicating that one is unlikely to use the deposit unless one needs to. Most banks do not pay any interest on current accounts, which implies the availability of the funds in the account at any time. Rent, on the other hand, is a sale of the benefit, or the use of the property for a period of time. You are giving possession of the house, or the shop, or some other property to someone, allowing them to use it as agreed between you for a specific period of time. The person renting the property uses it as accommodation or to conduct a business, benefiting by it, and the owner receives the rent to use it in whatever way he wants.
When rent is received, it becomes liable to zakah in the same way as other money. However, only the net rent is considered. Thus if you let out a shop for, say, 10000 riyals and you spend 2000 on its maintenance and other expenses, such as property tax, you pay zakah on the net income from it, which is 8000 riyals. You add these to your other monies and make your calculation of zakah.
Zakah is payable by everyone who owns more than the threshold of zakah for one year or longer. The threshold is the equivalent of 85 grams of gold. When you have this amount, you mark the day as your annual zakah date. On the same day in following years, you count what you have, and if it is more than the threshold of zakah you pay zakah on all you have at the rate of 2.5 percent, unless you have something that incurs more in zakah, such as agricultural produce. When you sell a property, its price becomes part of what you have. It is subject to the same rules of zakah.
The Qur’an in the Mobile Phone
Q. Some people download the Qur’an or parts of it into their mobile phones, and then either listen to it on the mobile or read it as it appears on its screen. Is this acceptable?
M. Mamu
A. When you download the Qur’an, in full or in part, to your computer or mobile phone, your device becomes loaded with a sound or a copy of what you have downloaded. The device itself does not become the Qur’an or a copy of it. It simply has a program which, when operated, reproduces what has been downloaded in the specific format it has. This is totally different from having a copy of the Qur’an that you hold or carry in your briefcase. Anyone who sees such a copy knows what it is, but no one looking at your mobile phone or computer can guess what programs it has, or what things it stores, unless that person switches the device on and looks at its contents.
There is nothing wrong with such downloading, listening to, or reading of the Qur’an, as long as the purpose for what it has been stored is a sound one. Needless to say, the Qur’anic program on your mobile should be closed if you are in a place to which you would not carry a copy of the Qur’an. Thus, when you go to a bathroom, you switch off your Qur’anic program on your mobile, or switch the mobile off.