Counting the zakāh year after wealth dips below niṣāb

Question

I have confusion for the zakat masail.

Suppose If a person is sahib e nisab in the month of ramzan eg. 27th ramazan, now on 1st muharram due to some reasons he lost some money and now he is not sahib e nisab. He earned money in few months and become sahib e nisab on 15th rajab, so does the counting of 1 year will start from 27th ramzan or from 15th rajab of paying the zakat. Does he have to pay zakat after 27th ramzan or after next 15th rajab?

— Hamid Gazi, Surat, Gujarat

Answer

In the scenario presented in the question, the year will be counted from the 27th of Ramaḍān even though the individual went below the threshold (niṣāb) on the 1st of Muḥarram. This is because the complete threshold must be met at the start of the year and the end of the year; any decrease below the threshold throughout the year is not considered. Ṣadr al-Sharī`ah, Muftī Amjad `Ali 'A`zmī states:

شروع سال اور آخر سال میں نصاب کامل ہے، مگر درمیان میں نصاب کی کمی ہوگئی تو یہ کمی کچھ اثر نہیں رکھتی یعنی زکاۃ واجب ہے

“At the start of the year and the end the year the threshold is complete, however in the midst of the year it decreased below the threshold, then this decrease has no effect meaning zakāh is wājib.”

Thus the following 27th Ramaḍān is when the zakāh must be given if all the other conditions of zakāh have been met, and Allāh knows best.

Faqīr Sohel al-Qādirī · (may he be forgiven) · Jumādā al-'Ākhirah 9, 1446 AH