Paying Zakaat By Cheque

It is permissible, according to the Shari’ah law to pay the amount of Zakaat by drafting a cheque, but there are some clarifications that need to be brought to notice, concerning this issue. It is mentioned in Fataawa Aleemiyah with reference to Fataawa Razviyyah Shareef and Durr e Mukhtaar with Raddul-Muhtaar. It is thus stated that a cheque is not regarded as wealth, rather it is a representative or certification of acquisition of wealth. If it was true wealth itself, no one would destroy it by tearing it up or throwing it away at the slightest error, nor would a bank return it. There are no signs according to people nor in accordance with the Shariah that a cheque itself is wealth. It does not hold the same status in comparison to monetary notes. The monetary note itself is defined as actual wealth whilst, a cheque is a representation of wealth. Fataawa Razviyyah Shareef defines, the reality of a note in comparison to a cheque in this manner:

(Fataawa Razviyyah Shareef volume 4 page number 477) Simply stating, the essence of the above Arabic texts is that a cheque is not regarded as wealth itself, while for the payment of Zakaat to be fulfilled, it is necessary for a person to set aside a certain portion of his wealth and make a deserving person the owner of it. Therefore it has been mentioned in Durr e Mukhtaar:

(Ad-Durr-ul-Mukhtaar with Raddul-Muhtaar Volume 2 Page 257) Similarly, in Fataawa Razviyyah Shareef it is as I quote: “One of the fundamental requirements of giving Zakaat is that the needy must be given ownership of the wealth, and if the ownership is not given to the needy then Zakaat will not be paid.” (Fataawa Razviyyah Shareef) In the light of all of the above mentioned statements, it is absolutely clear that if a person writes a cheque for the amount of Zakaat, then Zakaat will not be paid from mere obtainment of the cheque only, because getting hold of the cheque is not possession of wealth but a certificate of future receipt of wealth, while possession of wealth is required for payment of Zakaat. When, the amount of Zakaat is transferred into the account of the deserving person by cheque, then only will the ownership of the poor (i.e. recipient) be realised, and only then will the payment of Zakaat be fulfilled.