Why Zakat On Salary Is 10% And Not 5%
Question : I would like to know the principal of calculating Zakat on salary. I understand Mr Ghamidi is alone in his understanding that 10% of salary is to be given away in Zakah. Am I correct or any any other scholar/s support/s this? If we say that salary only involves services and no capital, but at the same time we have already spent capital to get good education to get the job and to learn the skills. What about this capital? I am an IT professional. I have to advance my skills all the time through learning new technology. Many time I am paying to acquire advanced skills. What do you say about this? How to calculate Zakat: If i have to pay 10% Zakat, how I will calculate the Zakat? How to calculate NISAB on salary? For example if I am taking salary 10000 Dhs. Basic = 4000 House Rent = 5000 Traveling = 1000. How I will calculate it? If 10% then its mean I have to give 1000 Dhs from 10,000 Dhs. My Question is if i am living with my family my minimum expenditure will be as follow: House rent = 5000 Dhs Grocery = 2500 Dhs Schooling = 1500 Dhs Traveling = 1000 Dhs. I still need some money around 1000 Dhs to accommodating bills and for that either I will be taking loan or cutting my expanses from above. How I will be able to manage 1000 Dhs for Zakat in this case. Even beside this I have family (My father, Mother, and younger sister) to send some money for their monthly expanses. Just I want to know how will apply 10% rule here, because 10,000 Dhs mean 2,30,000 PAK Rs. I think this amount is enough to declare me Sahib-e-Nisaab. Please clarify. Answer : By Dr. Shehzad Saleem This is primarily an ijtihad done by Mr Ghamidi. As for the skill you have acquired for service — if spending to acquire it is also going on during the time of your job as well to a palpable extent, then the formula will change to 5 %. You will have to judge this. However, during the time you were acquiring it (and this is done mostly when a person is in his student life and not doing a job), this question should not arise. The best way to calculate the nisab on salary is to take the figure of tax exemption fixed by your government for salaried persons.