Is zakah due for past years on a mahr that a wife could not obtain?
2026-10-14
T226 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Original Q&A · Complete source question and answer
Complete original question and answer, 25/47–48. The question's inability to collect the mahr and the two alternative conclusions are both retained.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
وسئل رحمه الله عن صداق المرأة على زوجها تمر عليه السنون المتوالية لا يمكنها مطالبته به لئلا يقع بينهما فرقة، ثم إنها تتعوض عن صداقها بعقار، أو يدفع إليها الصداق بعد مدة من السنين، فهل تجب زكاة السنين الماضية؟ أم إلى أن يحول الحول من حين قبضت الصداق؟
الجواب
الحمد لله، هذه المسألة فيها للعلماء أقوال:
قيل: يجب تزكية السنين الماضية، سواء كان الزوج موسرا أو معسرا، كأحد القولين في مذهب الشافعي وأحمد، وقد نصره طائفة من أصحابهما.
وقيل: يجب مع يساره، وتمكنها من قبضها، دون ما إذا لم يمكن تمكينه من القبض، كالقول الآخر في مذهبهما.
وقيل: تجب لسنة واحدة، كقول مالك، وقول في مذهب أحمد.
وقيل: لا تجب بحال، كقول أبي حنيفة، وقول في مذهب أحمد.
وأضعف الأقوال: من يوجبها للسنين الماضية، حتى مع العجز عن قبضه، فإن هذا القول باطل، فأما أن يجب لهم ما يأخذونه مع أنه لم يحصل له شيء، فهذا ممتنع في الشريعة، ثم إذا طال الزمان كانت الزكاة أكثر من المال، ثم إذا نقص النصاب، وقيل: إن الزكاة تجب في عين النصاب، لم يعلم الواجب إلا بحساب طويل، يمتنع إتيان الشريعة به.
وأقرب الأقوال قول من لا يوجب فيه شيئا بحال حتى يحول عليه الحول، أو يوجب فيه زكاة واحدة عند القبض، فهذا القول له وجه، وهذا وجه، وهذا قول أبي حنيفة، وهذا قول مالك، وكلاهما قيل به في مذهب أحمد، والله أعلم.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
He, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about a woman's mahr owed by her husband over successive years. She cannot demand it for fear of a separation between them. She then receives property in exchange for the mahr, or receives payment after a number of years. Must she pay zakah for the past years, or only after a year has elapsed from receiving the mahr?
Answer
Praise be to Allah. Scholars have several views on this question.
It has been said that zakah must be paid for the past years whether the husband is solvent or insolvent. This is one of the views in the schools of al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad, supported by a group of their followers.
It has been said that it is due if he is solvent and she can obtain it, but not if she cannot obtain it. This is the other view in their schools.
It has been said that zakah is due for one year only, as Mālik held and as one view in Aḥmad's school holds.
It has been said that it is not due at all, as Abū Ḥanīfah held and as one view in Aḥmad's school holds.
The weakest view is that zakah is due for the past years even when receiving the mahr was impossible. That view is invalid: it is impossible in the revealed law for an amount to become due to recipients when the owner has received nothing. If a long time passed, the zakah would exceed the wealth. Then, if the minimum threshold were reduced and zakah were held to attach to the property itself, the amount due could only be known through a lengthy calculation of a kind the revealed law would not require.
The closest views to correctness are either that nothing is due until a year has elapsed over it, or that a single zakah payment is due upon receipt. Each has a basis. The former is Abū Ḥanīfah's view and the latter Mālik's, and both are held within Aḥmad's school. Allah knows best.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 25/47–48
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic checked against the cited source and adjacent question boundaries. Diacritics and display marks omitted; honorific glyphs expanded. Titles and scope notes are editorial.