Zakat on a Building

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question: Assalamu alaykum

I have a building which I rent out. The money earned from it is spent on financing my Islamic school (completing the structure, paying staff, and for other materials). I am in debt due to this.
Is zakat due on the structure?

Answer: Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

I pray you are well.

No, it seems like you do not owe any zakat. There would be no zakat on the building unless it was purchased with the intention of reselling it.

As for the rental income, if it is used up paying for the things you mentioned then no zakat would be due on it either. Zakat would only be due if you were over the nisab amount at one point, then a lunar year passes without you losing anything surplus to your essential costs, and then you were over the nisab amount at the end of that year. You would also deduct your debt from the final amount.

If you were over the nisab amount after all this then you’d say 2.5% of what you had in zakat. [Mahbubi, Sharh al Wiqaya]

May Allah reward you abundantly for your efforts to facilitate the teaching of the din. You’ll find it to be one of the deeds which doesn’t end at your death. Its reward goes on and on. [Muslim]

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.

Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.

In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.

His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.

When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.