Q. I have savings in the bank intended for the marriage of my daughters. I receive some income from these savings. Could you please let me know if such funds are liable to zakah?
M.H. Abd Al-Sattar
A. There are two ways of looking at this situation. The first is that these savings are gifts you have already given to your daughters, which means that you no longer own them. You cannot use them in an emergency without your daughters’ permission. In this case, they belong to your daughters. They will be responsible for their zakah. Each one of your daughters should then look at her own zakah situation.
If she owns more than the threshold of zakah, which is the equivalent of 85 grams of gold, then she should pay her zakah, and the portion of those savings you have assigned to her should be added to her calculation.
The other way is that you treat this money as your own. Although it is set aside for a purpose, it remains yours and you have full authority to change its usage if the need arises. In this case, it belongs to you and you are responsible to pay its zakah.
There is no doubt that such savings are liable to zakah every year. However, in situations where the money is placed in a bank or in stocks and shares, without touching the principal amount, zakah is payable only on the net profit such money returns, at the rate of 10 percent.
Thus, if you have 100,000 in savings, giving you an income of, say, 8,000 a year, you pay 10 percent of the income, which is 800, instead of paying 2.5 percent of the principal and income.
