Salam alaikum My husband and I are making preparation to migrate to my home country with our 5 young kids. However we have debts on our credit cards that we had accumulate from our jahiliyah time which we used for sometimes to buy groceries, gas n pay bills. 1)Do we have to pay this debts before hijrah? What if we have the money to pay off but we need it for Hijra and paying it will delay our hijrah? 2)My husband took out his pension money . Do we have to pay zakat on this next yr? The money is for our hijrah. My husband might not be able to work at my home country unless we set up business like food stall or do odd job like babysitting etc.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

You are obliged to pay all debts you incurred from using the visa card even if this delays you from returning to your country, but if there is any Riba (usurious) interest because of that debt, then you are only obliged to pay the original sum of money and you are not obliged to pay the interest as underlined in Fatwa 86521. Please also refer to Fatwa 88360 where we have clarified that it is not permissible for a Muslim to flee from a non-Muslim country unless he or she pays back all debts or the debts are explicitly forgiven.

As regards paying the Zakah on the money you mentioned, if it was a gift, then it not an obligation unless it was in your possession for a whole lunar year. When a whole lunar year elapses since the time of acquisition and if the amount was equal to or greater than the Nisaab (minimum amount liable for Zakah), which is 85 grams of gold or more, or 595 grams of silver, then it is an obligation to pay 2.5% regardless of whether the money is reserved for Hijrah or to buy a shop or anything else.

However, if the amount is an end-of-service gratuity that is given to employees when they leave their job, then this is tantamount to a delinquent debt, in which case, you are obliged to pay one year's Zakah on it immediately after taking possession of it, so you should pay 2.5% according to what we have already clarified.

Allaah Knows best.