Zakah on Ill-gotten Money
1. Unlawful property indicates all that is legally forbidden to be owned or invested. The forbiddance may be attributed to the harmful nature of the object itself such as carrion, alcoholic beverage, and pork, or to the improper way through which this property is acquired, such as ravishment, usury, bribery, etc.
2. a) Gaining property through an illegal way is not considered an acknowledged way of ownership. The acquirer has to pay it back to its original owner or to his heirs in case the former dies. In case it is impossible to identify the original owner, the property is to be disposed of in charitable purposes. It will be considered a charity whose reward goes to the original owner.
b) Money received in return for carrying out a prohibited activity is to be disposed of in charitable purposes, but not paid back to its original owner.
c) Money received from an employer who insists on dealing in unlawful transactions, such as usurious dealings, is to be disposed of in charitable purposes, but not returned back to him.
d) In case it is impossible to pay back the same unlawful property, the acquirer may pay back anything similar to it or its value to the original owner. In case it is impossible to identify the original owner, the property is to be disposed of in charitable purposes. It will be considered a charity whose reward goes to the original owner.
3. The property declared unlawful due to a blemish in its nature is not counted for Zakah, since it is legally considered as valueless. It should be disposed of according to the ways dictated in the Shari ah.
4. The property declared unlawful due to its being acquired through unlawful means is not counted for Zakah due to the absence of the condition of full possession. In case this property is returned to its original owner, it will be counted for Zakah for one year only. This is the unanimously held opinion regarding this issue.
5. It is no use paying Zakah on unlawful property so long as it is not paid back to its original owner. Instead the holder should pay it back to the original owner if he knows him. Otherwise the property is to be disposed of in charity on his behalf.