Zakāh on savings set aside for a wedding

Question

Do I pay zakat on savings which I’ve set aside for a wedding? The money I have received is through a committee payment and the sole intention is to use that money for the wedding.

— Mazhar Iqbal, Birmingham, UK

Answer

In the case that the owner of the wealth and these savings meet the remaining conditions required to necessitate zakāt, zakāt will be paid on it regardless of being set aside for specific purposes. This is because this wealth is excess of basic necessities and merely setting it aside for a particular purpose does not remove it from one’s ownership.

In the list of conditions which necessitate zakāt, Ṣadr al-Sharī`ah Muftī ‘Amjad `Alī, may his secret be sanctified, writes:

نصاب حاجت اصلیہ سے فارغ ہو

“The niṣāb threshold [must] be excess of basic necessities.”

[Bahār e Sharī`at, Vol. 5, Chapter of Zakāt]

Considering that the remaining conditions, such as being in ownership for one lunar year and meeting the threshold of niṣāb, are met, zakāt must be paid on these savings, and Allāh knows best.

Faqīr Sayyid `Abdul Ṣamad al-Qādirī · (may he be pardoned) · Jumādā al-'Ākhirah 16, 1446 AH