Zakat on a Gift (Hiba)

Question

About a year ago money was sent to me from outside India, and it was written in the letter: “In it there are [shares] of mine and of Zayd and Bakr.” I thought it was an amana (trust deposit) of these three gentlemen, since deposits of this kind are constantly with this humble one. A few days ago I wrote to them that the details of this sum were still unknown to me. Zayd and Bakr had come to me, but they too did not claim it. I was told in reply that this money is a gift (hadiyya) for the three of us.

Answer

Acceptance (qabul) is necessary for a gift (hiba); ownership of the thing given arises from the time of acceptance. So as long as you had not accepted it, your ownership of it did not arise. From the moment you accepted it you are the owner, and from that very time the zakat on it will be reckoned.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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