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Worship - Zakah
| Purification | Praying | ||||||||||
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Zakah | Fasting | Pilgrimage | |||||||||
| 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | ||||||
Lesson 43
Sources of Zakah
· Zakah, the third pillar of Islam, is obligatory on every Muslim possessing a “Nisab”, the minimum unit that necessitates Zakah. Those who deny it are considered unbelievers, and regarding those who abstain from paying it, Zakah should be taken from them by force, otherwise, they will be fought.
·
The wisdom behind Zakah is that it
is the means of achieving Muslim social solidarity, purification of the self
from miserliness and greed, redistribution of wealth and activation of the
economy.
·
Kinds of wealth liable to
Zakah:
a) Gold and silver, their
equivalent of liquid money, trade wealth, any relevant metals or buried
treasure.
b) Cultivated land crops.
c) Grazing livestock cattle -
camels, cows and sheep.[1]
· Zakah of gold/silver or their
equivalent is 2.5% of wealth exceeding Nisab, to be paid annually. Nisab is
equal to 85 grams of pure gold or 624 grams of silver.
·
Zakah of trade wealth is like that
of its monetary equivalent.
·
Zakah on a debt: if it is liable to
be redeemed at any time, then it is counted with its equivalent of gold/silver
and trade Zakah; if not, its Zakah of only a year is paid once it has been
redeemed.
·
The Zakah of a buried treasure is
20% of it and should be paid once found.
·
The Zakah of metals is 20% like the
buried treasure. As for raw gold and silver extracted from the ground, their
Zakah are either like buried treasure or like gold and silver.[2]
·
Zakah of cultivated land crops is
paid once the crop has ripened and has been harvested. Its Nisab is 612 kilos,
which equals 1,346.40 lb. There is no Zakah on production that is less than this
amount. If the production depends only on rainwater, or without any human labor
or irrigation, the due Zakah is one-tenth of the total. If equipment and tools
are used for irrigation, then the Zakah due is half of one-tenth of the total
production.
·
Zakah on industrial production and
the return of land and estates: There are two schools of thought: to consider it
either as trade wealth i.e., the Zakah is 2.5%, or like cultivated crops, that
is, one-tenth on the invested wealth produced without effort, or half one-tenth,
if effort is exerted.[3] In another school, it is considered as trade wealth i.e. Zakah is 2.5%.
·
Zakah on cattle that are freely
grazed:
a) There is no Zakah on camels unless there are five of them grazing freely, and they have been in one's possession for a year. When the camels are five, their Zakah is one sheep. Thus, every time they increase by five, Zakah due on them is one more sheep. However, when they reach twenty-five, due Zakah is a one-year she-camel that is starting its second year. The Zakah changes further according to the increase in camels, as detailed in the Sunnah.
b) The Nisab of cows is
thirty heads, and its Zakah is equal to a one-year old calf, for up to forty
heads. Afterwards, Zakah changes to be a two-year old cow, when the number
reaches forty. If they increased more than that, their Zakah is a
one year old calf for every thirty heads and a two-year old cow for every
forty heads.
c) The Nisab of sheep and
goats is forty heads and their Zakah is a six month (or more) old sheep, two
heads of sheep for every 120 heads, three heads of sheep for every 200 heads,
and a sheep for every hundred when the amount reaches 300 heads.
Obligation of Zakah
Allah says:
(التوبة:
103)
This
means: “Take Sadaqah (alms) from their wealth in order to purify them and
sanctify them with it.” (9, At-Taubah: 103)
Allah says:
(المزمل: 20)
This
means: “And perform As-Salah (Iqamat-as-Salah) and give Zakah.
(73, Al-Muzzammil: 20)
The Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him) said:
“Islam is raised on five
(pillars):
The testification that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is His
bondsman and Messenger, the establishment of prayer, the payment of Zakah,
performing pilgrimage to the House of Allah
(Ka`bah),
and fasting during Ramadan.”
(Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him) said:
“I
have been commanded to fight against people until they testify that there is
no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, perform prayers
and pay Zakah. If they do that, the protection of their blood and property
will be guaranteed by me, except when justified by law, and their affairs
(regarding truthfulness of faith)
is decided by Allah.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said to Mu`adh when he sent him to Yemen:
“You
will go to the People of the Scripture. So, when you reach there, invite
them to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that
Muhammad is His Messenger. And if they obey you in that, tell them that
Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in each day and night. And if they
obey you in that, tell them that Allah has made it obligatory on them to pay
Zakah which will be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor
among them. If they obey you in that, then avoid taking the best of their
possessions, and be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person because there
is no screen between his invocation and Allah.”
(Reported
by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (may
Allah be pleased with him) said:
The Zakah of gold and silver:
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“Nothing is
incumbent on you, that is, on gold, till it reaches twenty dinars. When you
possess twenty dinars and one year passes on them, half a dinar is payable.
Whatever exceeds, that will be reckoned properly. No Zakah is payable on
property till a year passes on it.”
(Reported by Abu Dawud)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“No
Zakah is due on property mounting to less than five Uqiyahs
(128 grams. It may be less or more
according to different countries) (of silver).”
(Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The
Zakah of buried treasure:
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“No
blood money will be charged if somebody dies in a mine or in a well or is
killed by an animal; and if somebody finds a treasure in his land, he has to
give one-fifth of it (as
Zakah).”
(Reported
by Al-Bukhari)
The Zakah of fruits and grains:
Allah says:
This
means: “You who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally)
earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you.” (2,
Al-Baqarah: 267)
Allah says:
(الأنعام: 141)
This
means: “Pay the due thereof (its Zakah, according to Allah's Orders (1/10th
or 1/20th) on the day of its harvest.” (6, Al-An`am: 141)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“On
a land irrigated by rain water or by natural water channels or if the land
is wet due to a nearby water channel, `Ushr (i.e. one-tenth) is compulsory
(as Zakah); and on the land irrigated by the well, half of an `Ushr (i.e.
one-twentieth) is compulsory (as Zakah on the yield of the land).”
(Reported by Al-Bukhari)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“There is no Zakah
payable (on grain or dates) on less than five camel-loads (A camel-load is
about 33 liters).”
(Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Animals Zakah:
Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri
(may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“If
any owner of camels does not pay what is due on him, and of his due in that
(camels) is
(also)
to milk them on the day when they come down to water, when the Day of
Resurrection comes a soft sandy plain would be set for him, as extensive as
possible, (he will find)
that not a single young one is missing, and they will trample him with their
hoofs and bite him with their mouths. As often as the first of them passes
him, the last of them would be made to return during a day the extent of
which would be fifty thousand years, until judgment is pronounced among
servants.” (Reported
by Muslim)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“There
is no Zakah payable (on grain
or dates) on less than five
camel-loads.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Camels:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“For
twenty-five camels, five sheep are to be paid. If they exceed by one, a
she-camel in her second year is to be given. If there is no she-camel in her
second year, a male camel in its third year is to be given, up to
thirty-five. If they exceed by one, a she-camel in her third year is to be
given, up to forty-five. If they exceed by one, a she-camel in her fourth
year is to be given.” (Reported by Ahmad and
Abu Dawud)
Cows:
Mu`adh Ibn Jabal (may
Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
“When
the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent him to Yemen, he ordered him to take a
year old male or female calf for every thirty cattle and a cow in its third
year for every forty.”
(Reported
by Abu Dawud)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“Regarding
cattle, a yearling bull calf is payable for every thirty, and a cow in her
third year for forty.” (Reported
by At-Tirmidhi)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“When
the herd counts forty freely grazing heads at the end of the year, its Zakah
is one sheep. This is applicable until the number reaches 120, at which
point, up until 200, the Zakah is two sheep. From 201 to 300, their Zakah is
three sheep. When the number is above 300, one additional sheep is added for
each increment of one hundred.”
(Reported by Abu Dawud)