Fatwaa.net - Fatawa | I have bounced checks from my clients and I have lawsuits against other clients. To be honest, I used to consider the bounced checks as zakat since they are funds that could come in at any moment, but this is not based on any legal knowledge. I want to confirm first whether zakat is obligatory on me or not? Knowing that there have been unexpected collections and checks that are in court and we are filing complaints about them, and if they want to pay, they might pay 50 or 100 per month. For someone who owes me 60,000, they are not paying 100 dinars a month. So, does zakat apply to them or not? For example, when the money is collected, do we pay zakat on it once, or do we consider it lost money?

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27 / 04 / 2026

Zakat on Unpaid Checks

Question

I have bounced checks from my clients and I have lawsuits against other clients. To be honest, I used to consider the bounced checks as zakat since they are funds that could come in at any moment, but this is not based on any legal knowledge. I want to confirm first whether zakat is obligatory on me or not? Knowing that there have been unexpected collections and checks that are in court and we are filing complaints about them, and if they want to pay, they might pay 50 or 100 per month. For someone who owes me 60,000, they are not paying 100 dinars a month. So, does zakat apply to them or not? For example, when the money is collected, do we pay zakat on it once, or do we consider it lost money?

Answer

I say, and with God's success: Checks are considered debts, and debts should not be subject to Zakat until they are received. Those that are expected should be Zakat-ed for all previous years, while those that are not expected should be Zakat-ed for the last year. And God knows best.

Zakat on Unpaid Checks

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