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Is zakat obligatory on an orphan minor's money that has reached the nisab and only grows a little?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The correct opinion among the sayings of scholars is the obligation to pay Zakat from the wealth of a child, whether an orphan or not. This is the view of Umar ibn al-Khattab, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Umar, Jabir, and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with them. The reason for this opinion is that Zakat is a right in wealth for the poor, and thus, the maturity or sanity of the owner is not a condition for it. Rather, Zakat becomes obligatory when the nisab (minimum threshold) is met. This is supported by the general meaning of Allah's saying: (Take, [O Muhammad], from their wealth a charity)(Quran 9:103) and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: “Inform them that Allah has made Sadaqah (charity/Zakat) obligatory upon them from their wealth.” Therefore, the guardian of an orphan who possesses nisab from Zakat-eligible wealth must pay Zakat on behalf of the orphan. This is further supported by the hadith of Amr ibn Shu'ayb: “Whoever is entrusted with an orphan’s wealth, let him invest it, and not leave it until Sadaqah (Zakat) consumes it.”

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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