Allah says: "Tell my servants who have believed to perform prayers, and to give from what we have given them, secretly and publicly, before a Day comes in which there is neither trading nor friendship." Ibrahim: 31.
And Almighty said: “Pray regularly, and give regular charity (Zakat), and obey the Messenger, so that you may receive mercy”: Al Noor: 56
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Islam is based on five pillars to testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, well do praying, giving zakat, fasting Ramadan, and Hajj the house.
Agreed upon
Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, and it has conditions for its donation. Zakat requires the possession of a known sum and above of money, for a certain period of time the conditions that should be available are set out to control the zakat obligation in money, and designed to maintain the interest of both the poor and the owner of money, into consideration. The donator of Zakat grants his zakat on his own good, so that the lofty goals that the zakat obligation is aimed at, is achieved.
The Bank calculates zakat amount annually by determining the Zakat applicable funds as determined by the Sharia’ Supervisory Board prior to issuing the financial statements according to a mechanism previously approved for Zakat, and checking the items listed in that calculation, and make its decision on the Zakat Ratio to be paid by the shareholders based on the figures provided to them. Since the bank is not authorized to pay zakat directly on its own, the responsibility to pay zakat falls on the shareholders, each year.
The shareholders, in terms of their Zakat donation, are divided into two parts:
Section 1: If the owners of these shares intend to trade on their shares, by selling & buying, and obtaining profits from the difference between the purchase and sale prices (i.e, Available for Sale) Zakat should be donated on the real market value of these shares and including accrued profits at the end of every Hijri year.
However, since the bank calculates Zakat based on AD Calendar, the rate is about 2.58%.The amount deducted as Zakat with regard to the trading goods is 2.5%, if the capital amount and profits reached the Sharia’ limit for donation, and it shall include the value of shares and their profits in addition to other zakat funds.
Zakat of available-for sale shares is calculated according to the following formula: Number of shares x Market value of the share on the date of Zakat donation × Zakat ratio
The percentage of Zakat is 2.5%
As for the calendar year, the ratio is 2.577 for the normal year and 2.5775 for the leap year.
Section II: If these shares are acquired by the intention of investing or benefiting from the annual income earned, i.e., investing in shares with the bank in view of obtaining profits of these shares. This type of will donate zakat according to the percentage determined by the bank each year. And this should be included with other zakat funds in terms of the year and the quorum, and Zakat is distributed by the ratio of (2.5%).
Zakat on these shares for the previous years shall be calculated according to the following formula:
Bank funds - zakat not applicable funds = Zakat applicable funds
Zakat applicable funds × 2.5% = zakat funds
Zakat funds / Number of Shares = the amount of Zakat per share in Syrian pounds
The number of shares x the amount of Zakat per share (according to the years in Syrian Pounds), as follows:
| Year | Almsgiving amount in SYP/stock |
| 2010 | 4.29 |
| 2011 | 5.33 |
| 2012 | 7.38 |
| 2013 | 2.63 |
| 2014 | 3.31 |
| 2015 | 6.8 |
| 2016 | 10.15 |
| 2017 | 10.58 |
| 2018 | 12.63 |
| 2019 | 6.95 |
| 2020 | 13.079 |
| 2021 | 28.13 |
| 2022 | 18.75 |
| 2023 | 32.74 |
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