Hadith warning about non-payment of Zakaat
| Fatwa #1670 | Category: Zakaat & Sadaqah | Country: Zambia | Date: 22nd December 2025 |
| Fatwa #1670 | Date: 22nd December 2025 |
| Category: Zakaat & Sadaqah | |
| Country: Zambia | |
Question
well-known hadith, narrated by Abu Huraira, describes the severe punishment for those who hoard wealth and do not pay their Zakat (obligatory charity). On the Day of Resurrection, their wealth will be transformed into a venomous snake that will wrap around their neck like a collar.
Wanted to ask about the hoarded wealth. Please explain about this wealth whether it is about business shortage or just our own savings
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The hadith in reference is as follows:
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من آتاه الله مالا، فلم يؤد زكاته مثل له ماله يوم القيامة شجاعا أقرع له زبيبتان يطوقه يوم القيامة، ثم يأخذ بلهزمتيه – يعني بشدقيه – ثم يقول أنا مالك أنا كنزك، ثم تلا: (لا يحسبن الذين يبخلون) الآية
Translation: Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “anyone whom Allah has given wealth but he does not pay its Zakat, then, on the Day of Resurrection, his wealth will be presented to him in the shape of a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two poisonous glands in its mouth and it will encircle itself round his neck and bite him over his cheeks and say, I am your wealth; I am your treasure. Then Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam recited the verse: ‘And let not those who covetously withhold of that which Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty.’ (Bukhari – 1403)
The punishment mentioned in this hadith and others refers to any and all wealth upon which Zakat became due and the owner did not discharge it. Business earnings and one’s personal savings are wealth upon which Zakat can become due if the conditions required are found.
Earning wealth and keeping it is not inherently blameworthy. It becomes an issue if its due Zakat is not discharged.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia