سوال

Assalamu Alaikum,

I would appreciate your guidance on a specific Zakat question regarding Pakistan's Islamic Naya Pakistan Certificates (INPC).

INPC is structured as a Mudarabah investment, with the investor as Rab-ul-Maal and INPCCL as the Mudarib. The funds are used for Shariah-compliant financing of the Government, including Sale & Lease-Back/Ijarah arrangements involving identified Government assets.

My question is regarding the Zakat treatment of the INPC principal.

Unlike an ordinary savings account, INPCs are exempt from compulsory Zakat deduction at source under the applicable INPC framework.

The underlying investment structure may therefore be relevant to determining Zakat. However, individual INPC holders are not provided with a breakdown of the Mudarabah pool showing what proportion consists of cash, receivables, Ijarah/leased productive assets, or other Zakatable/non-Zakatable assets. The bank has also confirmed that this asset-composition information is not available to customers.

In this situation, I would appreciate your guidance on the following:

1. Is the INPC principal itself subject to Zakat at 2.5%, or does the underlying Mudarabah/Ijarah structure mean that Zakat treatment should depend on the nature of the underlying assets?

2. If the underlying asset composition affects the Zakat calculation, what should an individual INPC holder do when the exact asset composition or Zakatable percentage of the pool is not disclosed or available to the investor?

3. In the absence of this information, is the investor required to assume that 100% of the principal is Zakatable, or is there a valid Shariah method for determining/paying Zakat without treating the entire principal as Zakatable?

I would be grateful if you could provide the relevant fiqh basis or references for your answer.

اَلجَوَابْ بِاسْمِ مُلْہِمِ الصَّوَابْ

It should be noted that the structure of INPC is based on Mudarabah, in which the investor acts as the Rabb al-Mal (capital provider), while INPC CL acts as the Mudarib (manager). In a Mudarabah arrangement, the Mudarib holds the Rabb al-Mal’s funds as a trust, while ownership of the funds remains with the Rabb al-Mal. Therefore, in principle, the Zakat on such funds is the responsibility of the Rabb al-Mal. However, the details of the Zakat ruling depend on the nature of the assets in which the Mudarib has utilized the Rabb al-Mal’s funds.

Accordingly, if the Mudarib has invested the Rabb al-Mal’s funds in trading assets, or if the funds are held in cash, or exist as an amount receivable from another party, Zakat will be obligatory on such funds. However, if the Mudarib has invested the funds in fixed assets that are used in the business and were not purchased with the intention of trading, Zakat will not be obligatory on the principal value of such assets.

According to the question, the activities in which investments are made through INPC also include Islamic Sukuk issued by the government. Most of these Sukuk are based on a Sale and Lease Back structure, i.e., they are Ijarah Sukuk.

1. If the Rabb al-Mal has complete information regarding the utilization of his funds and the nature and proportion of the assets held therein, then the assets that are not intended for trading but are used to generate income through Ijarah will not be subject to Zakat on their principal value. This is because they are not trading assets in themselves; rather, they are assets from which income is generated. However, the amount of rental income or profit generated from these assets and distributed to the investors will be included in the Zakatable assets, provided that it either reaches the Nisab on its own or, together with other Zakatable assets, reaches the Nisab.

2. If the Rabb al-Mal does not know what proportion of his investment has been utilized in Zakatable assets and what proportion has been utilized in assets that are not subject to Zakat, then, for the purpose of paying Zakat, a reasonably cautious estimate should be adopted in accordance with the AAOIFI Standard, to the extent possible.

Accordingly, if it is generally possible to estimate that, for example, a certain percentage of the investment consists of Zakatable assets and another percentage consists of non-Zakatable assets, then Zakat should be paid according to the proportion attributable to the Zakatable assets.

3. If it is not possible to make such an estimate through any reliable means, and it is difficult to determine the amount or proportion of Zakatable and non-Zakatable assets, then, as a matter of precaution, Zakat should be paid on the entire value of the investment.

الفتاوى الهندية (4/ 337)

اشترى بمال المضاربة جارية تساوي ألفين فحال الحول ولا مال له غير ذلك فعلى رب المال زكاة ثلاثة أرباع الجارية وعلى المضارب زكاة الربع، وإن كان اشترى جاريتين كل واحدة تساوي ألفا فعلى رب المال زكاة ثلاثة أرباع الجاريتين ولا زكاة على المضارب، وهذا قول أبي حنيفة - رحمه الله تعالى – خاصة.

آیوفی شریعہ  سٹینڈرڈ، (زکوۃ سٹینڈرڈ نمبر، ۳۵)

3-1-3. لا تجب الزكاة في الأجور والرواتب وإيرادات المهن الحرة ونحوها عند قبضها، وإنما تجب فيما يبقى منها عند نهاية الحول.

3-1-4. لا تجب الزكاة في أعيان الموجودات الثابتة الدارة للدخل غير المعدة للتجارة، مثل المستغلات والأعيان المؤجرة، وإنما تجب فيما يبقى من إيرادها عند نهاية الحول.

4-2-4 الاستثمارات في الأسهم، بغرض الاحتفاظ بها (النماء): إذا أمكن عن طريق الشركة معرفة ما يخص السهم من الموجودات الزكوية (النقود وعروض التجارة والديون المرجوة السداد) ، فإنه يزكي ذلك، وإذا لم يمكن ذلك فيزكي ما يخص السهم من الموجودات الزكوية بحسب التحري (التقدير). وإذا لم يكن لدى الشركة موجودات زكوية فإنه يزكي ما يبقى من صافي الإيراد في نهاية الحول. ولا يحسم من الموجودات الزكوية مخصص هبوط قيمة الاستثمارات في الأسهم بقصد الاحتفاظ.

أما الأسهم المعدة للمتاجرة فيطبق عليها حكم عروض التجارة،البند .2/5

2/4/1/5. الصكوك الاستثمارية، بأنواعها المختلفة، يزكيها حملتها، طبقًا لما ورد في هذا المعيار، وأما بالنسبة للمؤسسات التي تدير الموجودات أو تحفظ الصكوك الاستثمارية فهي أمانة لديها وليست مطلوبات، وليس عليها إلا تزكية نصيبها من الربح أو بحسب الموجودات التي تمثلها، ضمن موجوداتها النقدية.

4/3/1/5. الصناديق الاستثمارية، بأنواعها المختلفة، تُزكّى بحسب الموجودات التي تتكون منها، طبقًا لما ورد في هذا المعيار.