Yesterday I was eating lunch with my cousin and we got to talking about weddings and jewelry. We came to a problem that a lot of girls in our communities today are facing: to pay zakaat or not to pay zakaat, that is the question.
It seems like there is a lot confusion about whether or not jewelry that is not being used is part of wealth that needs to have zakaat paid on it. It is unclear what type of wealth it is categorized under: is unworn jewelry part of a regular collection that just isn’t worn often, or it is part of wealth that we hoard for its value?
I told my cousin I thought that if someone has a lot of jewelry, and she just doesn’t have any oppurtunities to wear it, and she does wear it as much as possible, I don’t think she has to pay zakaat on it. But my cousin thought that a lot girls are told by their parents or family members that well after you’re done wearing your jewelry, you should keep it around because it’s a good investment. So in this case, it is kept as a treasure.
Well then, I had a question: why do all these girls have so much jewelry in the first place?