I normally pay my zakat on 1st of Ramadan. This time due to floods, almost all of my assets were destroyed. I do not have any thing left. Do I need to pay zakat? What do I need to do?

Bismillahi Ta’ala

Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,

If a rich person faces genuine bankruptcy, whereby all his assets are destroyed, and he no longer has any zakatable assets left, then he is now a poor person. He will not be liable to pay Zakat. His cycle for calculation of zakat has also ended. He will wait until he has net zakatable assets more than the Nisab amount, and then from that day, he will count his 1 year mark for next year’s calculation of Zakat. In the meantime, he will not give any zakat.

In fact, in his condition where his net zakatable assets are below nisab, he will be eligible to receive zakat monies.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi