Q726 :I have heard that women need not pay zakah on
jewelry, if it is within the limits of their social status. Is the
above criterion not ambiguous? How does a woman quantify her jewelry in
relation to her social status? She may feel that whatever she has is
still below her social status. Please explain.
A726 : What you have said about zakah on jewelry is
correct. A woman need not pay any zakah for her jewelry if it is within
what is considered to be reasonable for women in her social status. Now
this is not as vague as you are saying. What a woman should consider is
whether her mother, her sisters, cousins or other people who enjoy the
same standard of living as herself have a more or less similar amount
of jewelry. If so, then what she has is within what is reasonable for
her. If she has what other people like herself, or her sisters, etc.
consider to be very excessive or luxurious, then this is certainly not
reasonable for her. In this case she should consider whether it is
truly excessive and, therefore, liable to zakah. We must not forget
that in this question we are dealing with Allah who knows everything
and who knows our intentions. Persons who do not care about their
religious duties, may not bother about the payment of zakah. But that
will turn eventually to their detriment. They have to answer to Allah
about their failure to meet their religious duties. That sort of
question is not the kind one looks forward to. It is much better to be
able to say to Allah that we have fulfilled our duties. He will then
forgive us our sins. Unfortunately, many people do not behave in this
way. On the day of judgment, they will realize that they have much to
regret.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )