Fatwa #1370626 November 2005Romania
I had a hobby of collecting currencies of different countries of the world in the past, and reached to about 90 countries, how shud i calculcate zakaat
Question
I had a hobby of collecting currencies of different countries of the world in the past, and reached to about 90 countries. It never occurred to me to pay zakat on these currencies since the past 15 years almost, but somebody told me to do so. Today, there are many currencies which are not in usage and have no value i.e. you can't buy anything with them, but some might be sold on a higher price being rare currencies.
Q. how should I calculate the zakat of these currencies, and for how many years if zakat is applicable?
Answer
The different currencies are regarded as assets and the Zakaat will be calculated as per the market rate of the coins.
If you are a Saahib-e-Nisaab, i.e. you have the minimum Zakaat amount in your possession after deducting your liabilities, you will have to discharge the Zakaat of the previous years according to the above stated principle.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai