Is zakat payable on the capital invested in a bond certificate, or on its market price on the day zakat is due?
Even if conventional bonds are considered as haram (impermissible), zakat will be due on the capital amount invested in them, and not the interest received. Since they are considered as a loan, the holder of the bonds will pay zakat on the amount lent to the bond issuer. This opinion has also been adopted by Dr Ahmad Kurdi, Dr Wahbah al-Zuhayli and Dr Rafiq Misri.
However, Dr Yusuf Qardhawi and Dr Salih Sadlaan consider bonds to be tradable assets. Hence, they argue that zakat must be paid on their current market value on the zakat day.
And Allah knows best!
(Mufti) Billal Omarjee