"Is Zakat due on a university student who forgot to pay it on his monthly stipend saved in the bank throughout the past years? "

"Zakat (definition) is an obligatory duty that is not permissible to delay except for a valid excuse. The one who forgets is not sinful for the delay. However, he is obligated to pay Zakat for the previous years in which the wealth reached the Nisaab (minimum threshold) and a year had passed on it, because Zakat does not lapse with time. He must strive and be diligent in estimating the wealth in each year, and then pay its Zakat. Allah the Almighty said: ""Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity."" And whoever did not pay Zakat for several years must repent to Allah Almighty from this sin, and he must hasten to pay Zakat for all the past years, and none of that Zakat is waived. The method of paying Zakat for accumulated years has been explained in two previous fatwas.

And Allah knows best. "