Is zakaah due on a retirement pension?
Question I participated in a retirement pension scheme. Is zakaah due on the pension?. Praise be to Allah. We have discussed the ruling on participating in retirement pension schemes, and we stated that participation in these schemes inevitably involves either dealing with a non-governmental organization, in which case it is a kind of gambling, because…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
We have discussed the ruling on participating in retirement
pension schemes, and we stated that participation in these schemes
inevitably involves either dealing with a non-governmental organization, in
which case it is a kind of gambling, because the person does not know
whether he will take more than he paid or less than he paid, which is the
essence of gambling, or it involves participating in a government pension
scheme, which may not come under the same ruling because the government or
bayt al-maal is responsible for spending on the people if they are in need.
For more information please see the answer to question no.
42567.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked about retirement pensions – is zakaah due on the payments? He replied:
We think that no zakaah is due on the money that deducted from the salary
for the pension, because the person can only withdraw it if he meets certain
conditions, so it is like a debt that is owed by one who is in financial
difficulty, and there is no zakaah on debt that is owed by one who is in
financial difficulty. But if he takes possession of it, then in order to be
on the safe side he should pay zakaah for one year on it. There is nothing
wrong with taking it because it is in return for what the state took of his
earnings and saved it for him until it was needed. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(18/174).
And Allaah knows best.
