Short answer
You still owe it. Missed zakat stays a debt owed to Allah until it is paid, so work out each missed year as well as you can, pay it, and repent for the delay. The four schools agree that it does not lapse with time.
Zakat for every past year in which you held the nisab remains fard and must be paid. When working it out, each year's unpaid zakat is treated as a debt that reduces the next year's total. If the exact figures are unknown, estimate on the side of caution.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- If someone dies with zakat unpaid, it is taken from the estate before inheritance, even without a will.
- Hanbali
- Unpaid zakat is paid from the estate of the deceased before inheritance, like any other debt.
Explanation
Zakat is a right of the poor in your wealth. Not paying it does not cancel it, and the hadith on withheld zakat carry some of the strongest warnings about wealth. The way out is simple: work out what you owe, pay it, and make sincere tawbah (repentance). See does Allah forgive all sins.
How to work out past years:
- Find, or estimate, the date you first owned the nisab.
- For each year since, estimate your zakatable wealth on that date: cash, gold, silver, shares, business stock.
- Work out 2.5 percent for the first year. Subtract that unpaid amount from the next year's total before working out the next year, and so on.
- Where you are unsure, round up. It is better to overpay than to leave a debt to Allah unpaid.
Pay it as soon as you can. If the total is large, pay what you can now and the rest as quickly as you are able, without needless delay. The same applies if you did not realise at the time that zakat was due on something, like jewellery or savings.
If a person dies with zakat unpaid, the Hanafi school says it is paid from the estate only if they left a will for it, and then from up to one third. The heirs may also pay it from their own shares as a kindness. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools take it from the estate like a debt. This is a good reason to record unpaid zakat in your Islamic will.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:35
يَوْمَ يُحْمَىٰ عَلَيْهَا فِى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ فَتُكْوَىٰ بِهَا جِبَاهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ ۖ هَٰذَا مَا كَنَزْتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ فَذُوقُوا۟ مَا كُنتُمْ تَكْنِزُونَ ﴿٣٥﴾
The Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and seared therewith will be their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, [it will be said], "This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard."
The punishment described for those who hoard wealth and do not pay Allah's right on it.
Sahih Muslim 987
Sahih... ما من صاحب ذهب ولا فضة لا يؤدي منها حقها ...
"There is no owner of gold or silver who does not pay what is due on it but that, on the Day of Resurrection, plates of fire will be made for him."
Unpaid zakat is a serious debt that remains until it is settled.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, on zakat for past years and the debt of zakat. Unpaid zakat of earlier years reduces the base of later years.
- Bada'i al-Sana'i, Kitab al-Zakat, on what makes zakat lapse. Unpaid zakat is not taken from the estate unless the deceased willed it, and then from one third.
- al-Mughni, Kitab al-Zakat, on someone who dies owing zakat. The Hanbali view that it is taken from the estate.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.