Zakat on the provident fund and security deposit

Question

The sums of the provident fund (a savings fund built from deductions from salary) and of the security deposit, which Zayd received after several years and which until now were not in his possession (qabd) — is zakat wajib on them or not? If it is wajib, in what way is it to be paid?

Answer

On the security deposit, according to the rule of the Shari‘a, zakat will be binding for the past period before its receipt as well. On the accumulated salary zakat for the past is not binding: it is a sum which, as it were, has entered one’s ownership only now, upon its receipt.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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