User Guide

To begin using our zakat tracker, users need to set a nisab amount which can be updated later. When changing the nisab value, previous savings will be adjusted accordingly. If the sum of previous savings was below the previous nisab and remains below the updated nisab, it will continue to be recorded in a table but not tracked for zakat. However, if the savings cross the nisab, all entries will begin being tracked for zakat from the moment they cross the nisab threshold. Due dates of each entry will accurately reflect the date of crossing nisab whenever nisab is changed.

The dashboard tab allows users to add savings, which will be recorded and displayed in the savings table on the same page. Users can modify the date and initial amount of any income entry, and delete entries as needed.

When a user inputs a zakat amount, RATIB tracks the amount based on whether it reaches the nisab or not. If the amount reaches the nisab, it is tracked for the following hijri year and displayed in the Zakat Due table when the payment becomes due. Users can then declare the amount as paid, and it will be recorded as paid and displayed on the history tab.

Any changes made to the savings table - whether by addition, deletion, or modification - are made in relation to the nisab threshold. If the previous savings were below the nisab amount and then any change causes the nisab amount to be crossed, the savings will begin being tracked from the date on which the nisab was crossed, and all subsequent entries will be tracked from their respective entry dates for one hijri year. Alternatively, if the previous total savings already crossed the nisab and then any change causes the total savings to dip below the nisab amount, the zakat tracking will stop. Users can still view entries on the table, but they will be untracked.

Fatwa - Zakaah on an Employee’s Salary – Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:

There is a man who depends on his monthly salary; he spends some and saves the rest. How should he pay zakaah on this money?

He replied:

"He should write down what he saves of his salary, and pay zakaah on it when one year has passed. Zakaah should be paid on the savings of each month when one year has passed. If he pays zakaah on the total in the first month, there is nothing wrong with that and he will be rewarded for that, and it will be regarded as zakaah paid in advance for the savings for which one year has not yet passed. There is no reason why a person should not pay zakaah in advance if he sees some benefit in doing so. But delaying it after the year has passed is not permissible, unless there is a valid shar’i excuse, such as the wealth not being available or there being no poor people."

Tuhfat al-Ikhwaan bi Ajwabah Muhimmah tata’allaq bi Arkaan al-Islam (question no. 12)

Here is an Answer from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah :

"If he insists on having all his rights and on not giving any charity to those who deserve it apart from what he is obliged to give, then he should make a schedule of his earnings and write down every amount and the date on which he took possession of it. Then he should pay zakaah for each amount separately when one year has passed from the date on which he took possession of it.

But if he wants an easier method, and wants to be more generous and give precedence to the poor and others who are entitled to zakaah over himself, then he can pay zakaah on all the money he possesses when one year has passed from the date when his wealth first reached the nisaab. This will bring a greater reward and raise him higher in status; it is easier for him and is more generous towards the poor and needy and others who are entitled to zakaah. Whatever extra amount he may pay will be regarded as a “down payment” on the zakaah for any wealth for which one year has not yet passed."

(From Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 9/280)

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