Abstract
There are various saving schemes both in public and private sector that helps the community to save money for their future. General Provident Fund is such a scheme where a certain percentage is deducted from the government servant from his salary on monthly basis, then is kept by the government and at the time of the retirement it is given to the employee with all installments paid by the employee throughout his service with some additional amount earned by the government. From where this additional amount comes, is a question that is related to the investment of such a huge fund but one of the important aspects is that since the fund is given back to the employee so should he pay zakat on it on yearly basis during the length of his service, is a question that needs careful consideration. The present paper is an attempt to address the issue of zakat on GPF by the employee during the life time of his service. In order to check the level of awareness among the government employees both; serving and retired, a sample of 40 was selected randomly from Peshawar city. The opinion of the ulema was also taken through a questionnaire by snow ball sampling about the payment of zakat on the fund. The opinion of the researchers was also considered through interview method. However, the sampling procedure was again snow ball sampling considering the time constraint. A high level of unawareness is found among the employees. Some ulema gave verdict to pay zakat once after retirement and some suggested paying on year to year basis after reaching to Nisaab. The researchers stressed the importance of understanding the matter seriously and to pay zakat by considering it savings. On the basis of the findings of the study and the literature quoted, it is therefore suggested that the status quo of the fund should be properly defined in the light of Shariah rules so as to honor zakat obligation properly
Naila Nazir, . (2009) Zakat on General Provident Fund: Misconception or Avoidance, Journal of Managerial Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 2.
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