QUESTION:
Can you please provide a list of liabilities that can be included when calculating zakat?
If I have bills that are due – do I deduct 12 months bills? Is it the same for mortgage payments?
for example – If you have £10,000 in savings but owe £2000 in bills for the next 12 months, do you subtract only the £2000 and pay Zakat on the remaining £8000 (provided it meets the Nisab)
ANSWER:
Zakat (zakah – obligatory charity) will be calculated after deducting those items from the total nisab (minimum threshold) of zakat when the zakat year is completed.
Any amount that you must pay to someone, meaning the amount of debt (qarz – loan), zakat is not obligatory on it; it will be deducted from the total wealth.
If you purchased something such as a house, plot, or shop, then whatever amount of payment is still outstanding for it will be deducted.
If goods were purchased on credit for a shop, then their payment will also be deducted.
If something was bought on installments, then whatever installments are still remaining will be deducted.
If you were part of a committee (committee – savings pool) and you have already received the payout, then whatever installments you still have to pay will also be deducted.
If the year completes at the end of the month, then monthly salaried individuals may deduct that month’s children’s school fees, employees’ wages, that month’s grocery expenses, etc., which are due for payment in that same month. However, if it is the beginning of the month, then these expenses will not be deducted.
Regarding electricity, gas, internet, etc., the ruling is that whatever has already been used and its bill has become due can be deducted. As for payments that will become due in the future based on usage, they cannot be deducted.
Therefore, the £2000 that you will pay over the next twelve months will not all be deducted. Rather, only the amount corresponding to what you have used in the current month—and whose bill has become due—will be deducted.
Note: The general principle in calculating zakat (zakah – obligatory charity) is that whatever debt exists is subtracted, and zakat is Fard (obligatory) on the remaining wealth, provided that the remaining amount reaches or exceeds the nisab (minimum threshold).
However, regarding a mortgage loan, which is paid gradually over a long period, there is a difference of opinion among scholars (ulama – scholars). Some scholars are of the view that the entire loan should be deducted. Others say that only one year’s worth of installments should be deducted, and the remaining loan should not be deducted.
Acting upon this second opinion is better.
Answered by:Mubashir Attari (AskMufti Scholar)
Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari
Translated answer
Date: 27th April 2026.
