Does a woman have to pay zakaah on the second part of the dowry?
Question

                I have been married since October 2003. I traveled with my wife after marriage to the UAE. The deal with my father in law was to delay giving the mahr (dowry) till I obtain a flat in Egypt (our original country) then to buy the furniture by this money (this is the tradition in Egypt). There is also a second part of the mahr; it is to be paid in case of divorce or death (whatever happens first). 

 The question is: 

What is the ruling on paying Zakat on the first and second part of the mahr, knowing that I do not have it, and it is more than the nisaab?

Do I have to pay Zakat on the mahr? How to give it out? Is it on me or on my wife, knowing that she does not work neither does she has a source of income?.
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 

    So long as you do not have possession of the second part of 
    the dowry, you do not have to pay zakaah on it. When you take possession of 
    wealth that reaches the nisaab (minimum threshold) and one year passes since 
    it came into your possession, then you have to pay zakaah on it even if you 
    are saving it or keeping it to furnish the apartment and so on, unless you 
    pay it towards furnishing the apartment or you give it to your wife as her 
    dowry before one year has passed, in which case you do not have to pay 
    zakaah on it. 

    Secondly: 

    The delayed part of the dowry is regarded as a debt that is 
    owed to the wife by the husband, so the ruling on its zakaah is like the 
    ruling on any other debt that a person owes to someone else. This is subject 
    to further discussion among the fuqaha’: 

    (a)

    If the debt is owed by someone who is able and willing to pay 
    it off, and he can afford to pay it back when asked to do so, and he is not 
    denying it or trying to delay it, i.e., you can get your money back whenever 
    you ask for it, then zakaah must be paid on it every year, because it comes 
    under the same ruling as wealth that is in the possession of the owner. 

    (b) 

    If the debt is owed by a poor person who has no wealth, or 
    one who is denying it, and you have no proof of it, then no zakaah is due on 
    it according to the more correct opinion, but when the owner takes 
    possession of it, then in order to be on the safe side he should pay zakaah 
    on one year, even if many years have passed. This has been discussed in the 
    answer to question no. 1346. 

    Based on this, the delayed portion of the dowry (with which 
    the furniture is to be bought) is a debt that you owe to your wife, so no 
    zakaah is due from her or from you because you do not own that wealth. 

    Similarly, no zakaah is due on the delayed portion which the 
    wife will not take unless there is a separation, because she cannot ask for 
    it so long as she remains your wife, but if she decides to pay one year’s 
    zakaah on it in order to be on the safe side, that is better. 

    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was 
    asked: Is it correct to delay giving the wife her dowry? Is it a debt owed 
    by the man that he must pay? Is zakaah due on it? 

    He replied: It is permissible to delay the dowry and there is 
    nothing wrong with that, because Allaah says (interpretation of the 
    meaning): “O you who believe! Fulfil (your) obligations” [al-Maa'idah 5:1]. 

    Fulfilling obligations includes fulfilling them and adhering 
    to their conditions. 

    If a man stipulates that all or some of the dowry will be 
    delayed, there is nothing wrong with that, but it becomes due if the 
    contract stated that it is due on a specific date, or if no specific date is 
    mentioned it becomes due when separation occurs as the result of divorce, 
    annulment of the marriage or death of the husband. It is a debt owed by the 
    husband that may be demanded when the specified time come if he is still 
    alive, or after he dies, as with any other debt.  

    Zakaah must be paid by the woman on this delayed dowry if the 
    husband is well off and is willing to pay the debt, but if he is poor then 
    she does not have to pay zakaah. 

    End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen 
    (18/30). 

    And Allaah knows best.