The zakaah on jewellery is obligatory upon the wife, and it is valid for her to give it to her husband if he is in need
Question I would like to know my wife has gold jewellary which is given to her from mother but iam not well off and i am in dept also so how should i pay zakat on it. Answer Praise be to Allaah. The husband does not have to pay zakaah on the jewellery on his wife’s behalf, because the zakaah is only obligatory on the possessor of the wealth, and the possessor in this case is your wife, because she is the owner of the jewellery. So she has to pay zakaah on it, either from the jewellery itself or from its monetary value. If her husband or someone else pays zakaah on her behalf with her permission, that is o.k., and he will be rewarded for this voluntary action. If the wife wants to give the zakaah on her jewellery or anything else to her husband who is in debt and cannot pay it off or who is poor, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the general meaning of the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “As-Sadaqaat (here it means Zakaah) are only for the Fu...