What should one do who has not paid the Zakat on salary for four years after learning of its obligation, if it reached the nisab and a hawl passed, knowing that he bought a plot of land with what he owned and is in debt for the remaining cost of it?
Money saved from a salary is subject to if it reaches the (minimum threshold) and a hawl (one lunar year) passes over it. Zakat must be paid immediately for every past year, even if the delay was due to ignorance or laziness, because Zakat is a right of the poor and does not lapse with time.
If Zakat becomes due and is not paid, it remains a debt upon the individual’s conscience and must be paid immediately upon ability to do so. The obligation of Zakat does not cease by purchasing land or due to a new debt; rather, one must hasten to pay it for past years.
The method for calculating Zakat for past years is to estimate the amount of money the muzakki (person paying Zakat) possessed at the end of each hawl, then pay 2.5% of it, deducting the Zakat paid from the balance of the following year.
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