What are the rulings regarding Zakat on the assets of pharmacies, and how are the beginning of the Hawl (Zakat year) determined and Zakat calculated for past and current years? Is debt taken into account when calculating the Nisab? What is the ruling on giving Zakat in kind or in advance, and on expired medicines, and on recoverable and irrecoverable debts? Can the amount of an irrecoverable debt be considered as part of Zakat? Can the rulings on an open account be generalized to all commercial activities?

The zakat on a pharmacy is like that on other trade goods. It becomes due after a full year (hawl) by valuing all the trade goods at market price, excluding fixed assets, and adding expected debts while subtracting due debts if they are not offset by non-zakat eligible funds. Then, 2.5% of the total is given as zakat if the wealth reaches the nisab (the value of 85 grams of gold). The hawl begins if the capital reaches the nisab, otherwise, it begins when the total assets in the pharmacy reach the nisab.

Zakat must be paid in cash. However, it is permissible to pay it in medicine if that is more beneficial for the poor. It is permissible to pay zakat before the hawl if the wealth has reached the nisab and there is a benefit in doing so. Expired goods have no zakat value unless their compensation is guaranteed, in which case they are valued at the expected compensation amount.

A debt owed by a solvent and non-procrastinating debtor is subject to zakat annually, or upon its collection for all past years. As for a debt owed by an insolvent or procrastinating debtor, it is not subject to zakat until it is collected, and then zakat is paid for one year only. It is not permissible to waive a debt and count it as zakat. Specifying the time for debt repayment does not affect zakat; what is important is to consider the debts and receivables at the completion of the hawl.