Praise be to Allaah.
The minimum threshold
(nisaab) with regard to cash is the equivalent of the lesser nisaab of gold
or silver. The one which is lower in value now is the nisaab of 595 grams of
silver. So if the amount of money is equal to the value of 595 grams of
silver, then zakaah must be paid on it, when one full hijri year has passed
since it came into its owner’s possession.
Based on this, the money that
you have -- $700 -- is subject to zakaah because it is greater than the
minimum threshold.
Please see the answer to
question number 2795.
If the money that reaches the
minimum amount is ‘frozen’ and does not increase or decrease, or if its
value is decreasing, or it is decreasing because some is being taken from
it, then it is also subject to zakaah, so long as it does not fall below the
nisaab and one year has passed since it was acquired. But that which has
been spent during the year is not subject to zakaah. The scholars of the
Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked about money that is put in
a savings box without anything being added to it, and one year has passed –
does zakaah have to be paid on it?
They replied: If the year has
passed since it was acquired and it reaches the nisaab, then zakaah must be
paid on it. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah
al-Daa’imah,
9/273.
With regard to the fact that
this money was a loan to your mother and brother, in the answer to question
number 1117, we have
stated that if the debt is owed by someone who is able and willing to pay it
off and is not delaying, then zakaah is due on it every year, because it is
the same as money that is in the hand of its owner. But if the debt is owed
by someone who is poor or is delaying payment, no zakaah is due on it, but
in order to be on the safe side, when the owner gets it back, he may pay
zakaah on it for one year, even if it remained with the debtor for a number
of years.
And Allaah knows best.