KUWAIT CITY, July 13
The Sharia Board of Zakat House has specified the Sharia ruling on giving zakat for white gold due to the absence of a fatwa in this regard. In a press statement Saturday, the board explained the jewelry for personal use has no zakat unless it is not more than the usual amount a woman is wearing; otherwise, there should be zakat in addition to the amount since it is categorized as collections and savings, as well as there should be zakat on jewelry that is no longer used. The statement added there should be zakat on gold and silver that is not allowed to be used like the case of a man who is using gold, pointing out it is strictly prohibited for a man to wear jewelry made of gold or silver, except a silver ring.
The case is the same for a woman who is wearing something she is not supposed to wear. In other words, whatever is prohibited, in terms of gold and silver, has zakat whether it reached the quota or if it is added to another quantity until the quota is reached.
The board also mentioned that white gold, consisting of 3/4 yellow gold and 1/4 silver, palladium or rhodium or the mixture of the two -- usually 18 carat as specified by the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry -- has the same conditions as yellow gold, meaning that what is applicable on yellow gold is also applied on white gold. For jewelry not worn for years without giving zakat, the board explained the computation for 1,000 grams of 21 carat jewelry as follows: quantity of gold x 21 x the number of years x the price per gram of pure gold on the day of computation x 2.5 percent / 24.
© Arab Times 2013
