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Every Muslim individual who is at the age of puberty and is sane is responsible for paying khums. For minors, it becomes the parents or guardian’s duty to pay it.
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All Khums that one pays is consisted of two parts, or Sehme, in Arabic:
Sehme Imam, which at the time of Ghaybah is given to the Maraja’ we follow and he permits where and how this portion is to be spent
Sehme Sadaat, which is given to the poor and needy Sayyeds provided that it is not spent on Haram purposes.
It is also better to consult your Marja or his representative before paying it.
There are various items to which Khums apply. The most popular item in our daily life is the Khums on the surplus of income or on possessions that exceed our needs.
Khums is paid on what we own that exceeds our needs.
In other words, Khums is paid on the surplus of what we own after spending on all permissible expenses, including the expenses for our dependents. The amount and the level of the expenses varies from a person to another based on their status.
According to some jurists, Khums is not paid on inheritance, for example a wife’s mahr and on what Khums has been paid before.
Essentially, all forms of income – whether they be through work or inheritance – are liable.
These include net savings, haram and halal wealth, buried treasure, minerals, spoils of war, and gems obtained from sea diving.
Some financial gains are only paid for Khums if unused for a year. These include inheritance, items such as clothing, household goods/provisions, and property and savings that have not been used for a year.
There are two options on when to pay Khums:
First is to pay Khums upon receipt of the gain immediately. This means to pay the Khums on things which you think will be more than what you require once you own them.
The second, which might be easier, is to fix an annual date as the Khums annual date. On this date one should pay Khums on the surplus of what one has for the preceding year
- Note that on the annual date, one does not have discretion over his belongings on which Khums is not paid, unless he has permission from his Marja of Taqlid.
Real Life Example of Khums Calculation:
Imagine today is your annual Khums day and you want to calculate the Khums that you have to pay.
To make the calculation easier, let’s sort life’s expenditures into five major categories: foodstuff, clothing and furniture, property, cash and debts.
First: Foodstuff — Whatever foodstuffs exist in your possession like rice, sugar, food cans, frozen meat, fish, etc, which are unused and which has a monetary value should be counted and one-fifth of it should be paid as Khums. However, if an item has no monetary value in the market, like a spoon of honey, it can be ignored.
Second: Clothing, furniture and housewares — Consider your unused or extra items acquired during the last year, and one-fifth of them should be paid as Khums.
Third: Properties and vehicles — If your need in life is, for example, two cars and you own three, you must pay Khums on the third car. Or if you have a house which suffices your need, but you have purchased another home, the latter is considered surplus of your need and the Khums should be paid on it.
* Note that if someone has bought a piece of land or has bought the material for building a house and it has been with him for more than a year untouched, there are different rulings that apply to it. Please refer to the Islamic Laws book for this issue.
Fourth: Cash money – One-fifth of all money that is saved and is in hand needs to be paid as Khums.
Fifth: Debts and loans – If your money is lent to someone else, after one-year Khums becomes due on it. But if you have borrowed the money, there are two viable options:
1. If the money itself or its equivalent/replacement still exists, there is no Khums due on it.
2. If the money is spent and does not exist anymore and if it was spent on your need according to your status there will be no Khums. In addition, you are allowed to deduct the amount of your debt from the total surplus that you must pay Khums on. But note that you are allowed to deduct it only for one year.
You can find out more and use our Khums Calculator here.
Paying Khums On Business Capital
And The Equipment Used In Business
One may have to pay Khums if it is more than one’s regular needs. But if paying the Khums affects his livelihood there are other details which should be referred to in the Islamic Laws book.
Paying The Khums
After calculating the items on which Khums should be paid, there are two ways to pay Khums:
The first way is to give one-fifth of the commodity itself. So for example, if you have 5 kilos of rice, pay 1 kilo as Khums.
The second way is to pay the cash equivalent according to the market value. So instead of giving one kilo of rice, you pay its cash equivalent.
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