If I have a pension, which I don’t know any details about, do I pay Zakah on the contributions and is it considered Haram ?

Fatawa Question

If I have a pension, which I don’t know any details about, do I pay Zakah on the contributions and is it considered Haram ? I work for a big company and when I started in Feb 2009 the company inserted me on a default pension scheme. This would be 3 % of my contribution and 3 % from the company. I never paid any attention to the pension scheme-or the specific details-was simply told that I am on this scheme and the company would match my contributions. I am not certain whether I had a choice on where my contributions would be invested-since I never gave it any regard. Due to the complicated nature of the business (as it has been bought and sold), I can’t find this information now. I have also done some research on the pension provider and one their most popular investment areas is in insurance but they do have some Halal areas too. All I have been told is that it has been gathered in their “pool of investment funds” but it is extremely difficult to ascertain my investment area If I cannot CLEARLY ascertain which area my investment is spent on, do I regard this income as Haram. Do I have to give Zakah on my contributions to this pension-and if so-is it on the whole amount including the company contributions or just my contributions alone ?

Fatwa

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Publisher

al-Qalam Shariah Scholar Panel

Publication Date

2011-10-06

Country of Publication

United Kingdom

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Religion
Law
Islamic Studies

Topics

• Islamic jurisprudence
• Islamic economics
• Pensions
• Alms tax

No. of Pages

1

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-727358

• APA
• MLA
• AMA