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Fatwa CenterZakah on a restricted investment deposit in an Islamic bank
Question
Assalam o Alaikum I have deposited some money with Qatar Islamic Bank as mudarabah in fixed deposits account for 01 year on 50 % share in profit condition and they give me quarterly profits. Profit is not fixed as a percentage of capital but it is just a predetermined share from the profit they made. i can take any time my capital back if i like. is this mudarabah halal and profit is halal on me ? Am i obligated to pay the zakah of principal money i gave them for 01 year. As i am not using that money, its not under my control. even they also invested that money with some other halal business. but any time if i need the money before maturity of one year they will pay back form their personal pocket and i may or may not have to return all or a part of the profit back to them as i hava violated the Contract by asking the money back before one year. regards
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
What you mentioned is what is known as the restricted Mudhaarabah or the restricted investment deposit and this is permissible according to what you mentioned, and it is a means of investing money and making it grow according to Sharee’ah conditions that guarantees the right of both parties of the contract (the depositor and the bank) and repels the harm off them. Besides, it is permissible to benefit from the profit of that investment. For more benefit on Mudhaarabah, please refer to Fatwa 94668.
As regards the Zakah, it should be paid on the capital money if it reaches the Nisaab (the minimum amount liable for Zakah) along with the profit if any, which is 2.5% [the money deposited for investment + profits (if any) = total × 2.5 ÷ 100 = the Zakah that must be paid off.] If you abide by the Hijri calendar by choosing a Hijri month like Ramadan for example to pay your Zakah if a whole lunar year elapses on the deposited money and it reaches the Nisaab. This is if you can abide by the Hijri calendar, but if you are not able to abide by the Hijri year, and you determine the year according to the Gregorian calendar, then in this case, you should take into consideration the difference between the Lunar Year and the Solar Year so that the right of the poor will not get lost.
So you should calculate your Zakah as follows:
The money deposited for investment + profits (if any) = total × 2.577 ÷ 100 = the Zakah that must be paid off.
On the other hand, the fact that it (the restricted investment deposit) is not under your disposal does not mean that you are not obligated to pay Zakah on it since it is in the hands of the one who manages the investment (the bank), and you may receive it when the investment period finishes (after the maturity date) whether its term is one year or less. Moreover, you may receive it whenever you ask for it because it is permissible for the investor to withdraw his invested money (before the maturity date) after receiving the approval of the bank, so that the bank or one of its customers would replace the investor. In this case the investor does not deserve any profits for the previous period in which there was no calculation of the profits between the two parties, and, in this case, it is the bank that deserves the profits.
Allaah Knows best.
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