an overdue payment. Thus, the zakah on (100,000) is (2,500) each year, making its total zakah over ten years (25,000). Its zakah thus amounts to a full quarter, whereas the zakah on dirhams is one-quarter of one-tenth, because he pays it for all the years that have passed.

Third example: A man rents out his house to someone for one year for (1,000) dirhams. The term ends, but the tenant delays payment until the sum has remained outstanding for ten years.

The zakah on the thousand is (25) each year; over ten years, it is (250)—that is, one quarter.

Fourth example: A woman marries a man for a bridal due of (20,000) riyals, but he does not deliver the bridal due. She remains with him for ten years, after which he gives her her bridal due.

Its zakah over ten years is therefore (5,000) riyals—that is, one quarter.

All of this is according to the position adopted by the author, may Allah have mercy on him.

His statement, “he pays its zakah when he receives it,” means that he is not required to pay its zakah before receiving it. He is therefore granted a concession to delay paying the zakah until he receives it.

If someone were to ask: Is zakah not due immediately? Why, then, is he not required to pay it once a full year has elapsed, even though it is owed by another person?

The answer is that the debtor's property may be destroyed, he may become insolvent, or he may deny the debt—whether through forgetfulness or injustice. Since this possibility exists, he is granted a concession to delay paying the zakah until he receives it.

However, if he pays the zakah before receiving it, in order to put his mind at ease, he may do so, because delaying it is merely a concession and an allowance. Indeed, the scholars have stated that this is preferable.