Is the Lunar or the Solar Year Considered for the Obligation of Zakat?
Question
The Hijri year is about ten days shorter than the common Christian year. By which reckoning is the obligatory (wajib) zakat due? If a person came to have wealth amounting to the nisab on 21 August, will zakat become obligatory on him the following year on 20 August or on 10 August?
Answer
Zakat will become due upon the completion of the lunar year: according to the lunar date that falls on 20 August — when the lunar year is completed by it, that will count as the completion of the year (hawl).
Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya
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