Zakat - 109

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL

Voluntary Charity (Sadaqah)

Giving voluntary charity is recommended at all times; especially:

(a) during Ramadhan;

(b) before praying for something one needs e.g. when there is an eclipse, illness, or journey;

(c) and at all noble times and places - (example) times such as the first 10 Days of Zulhijjah or the Days of Eid and (example) places such as Makkah or Madinah.


It is superior to give charity to:

(a) righteous people - meaning those who give Allah and His slaves their due;

(b) to one's relatives which is better than giving to the righteous,;

(c) and even those of them who are one's enemies, and this is better than giving to one's friends among them.


It is better to give from the best of one's wealth - meaning that which is lawful.

It is offensive to give charity from one's wealth that is a doubtful source; or giving what is of poor quality.

It is unlawful to give property that has been unlawfully obtained when one knows its rightful owner. If one does not know its owner, then one must give it as charity or taxes to remove it from one's possession.

It is unlawful to give as charity - money needed to support one's dependents or needed to pay a debt that is currently due, and this is clearly because supporting one's dependents or paying a current debt are obligatory, and obligatory acts take precedence over recommended ones.

It is recommended to give away in charity everything one owns that is in excess of personal expenses and the expenses of those one is obliged to support, provided one can be patient with the resultant poverty. But if one cannot endure patience, then it is offensive to give away what is in excess of one's needs.

When performing voluntary charity, it is offensive to ask for anything besides Paradise with the words - "for the sake of Allah" / "by the countenance of Allah" / "by the entity of Allah" - though if someone does, it is offensive not to give his/her request.

It is unlawful to remind a recipient of charity that one has given him/her, and this action eliminates the reward.

It is permissible to give charity to a person not in need, or to a relative of the Prophet Muhammad SAW.

It is offensive for a person not in need to accept charity,and it is preferable that he avoid it. It is unlawful for such a person to accept it if he pretends to be needy, and is unlawful for him to ask for charity.

It is permissible to give charity to Non-Muslims.

Zakat - 108 - Part 5 of 5

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL


Paying Zakat to Recipients

A person who qualifies as a member of two or more of the above categories is only given zakat for one of them. This means he/she will be given one share of zakat only.

When the eight categories of recipients exist in the town where zakat is collected, it is unlawful and invalid to give it to recipients elsewhere, as it must be paid to those present if the property owner is distributing his own zakat. But if the imam/caliph/leader is distributing the zakat, he may give it to recipients in a different place.

If the zakat giver's property is in the desert, or none of the eight categories of eligible zakat recipients exist in his own town, then the zakat should be distributed in the nearest town.

Each category of recipients must receive an equal share, one-eighth of the total; though one may give various individuals within a particular category more or less, except for zakat workers, who receive only their due wage. If one of the categories does not exist in one's town, their eighth is distributed over the other categories such that each of them gets oneseventh. If two categories of recipients do not exist in the town, then each of the remaining categories receive a sixth of the zakat, and so on; such that if there were only one category in town, all the zakat would be paid to that category.

It is obligatory to give zakat to every individual member of a category if the owner is distributing zakat and the individuals are of a limited, known number, or if the Imam is distributing zakat and it is possible to give it out person by person and include them all because of the abundance of funds.

If the owner is distributing zakat and the recipients in each category are not of a limited, known number; then the fewest permissible for him to give to in one category of zakat workers, in which a single person is enough, is given.

It is recommended to give one's zakat to relatives other than those one is obliged to support.

It is recommended to distribute zakat to recipients in proportion to their needs, giving someone who needs 100 dirhams, for example, half the amount of the amount given to someone who needs 200 dirhams.

It is not permissible to give zakat to a non-Muslim, or to someone whom one is obliged to support, such as a wife or family member.

It is not valid for a person to give zakat to a poor person with a condition that the poor person will then return it to the giver to pay off a debt he owes. On the other hand, It is also not valid to tell the recipient, "I hereby make the money you owe me as zakat, so keep that money for yourself."

However, it is permissible:

(a) for the giver to pay his zakat to a poor person who owes him money when the giver's intention is that the recipient should pay him back with it;

(b) for the zakat giver to tell the poor person,"Pay me the money you owe me so that I can give it to you as zakat"; or

(c) for the poor person to tell his creditor, "Give me zakat so that I can pay it back to you for the debt I owe you"

It is however not obligatory for the zakat giver in (b) and the poor person in (c) to fulfill their promises of alluded outcomes.

All of the above rulings concerning zakat apply to the Zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr - in details, in giving it to deserving recipients within the eight categories described, and in giving it in advance.

It is permissible for a group of people to pool their Zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr, mix it, and collectively distribute it, or for one of them to distribute it with the others permission. Thus anyone can distribute their Zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr to all categories of recipients, no matter how little it is.

Zakat - 108 - Part 4 of 5

6. Those Who Have Debts

The sixth category of deserving recipients of zakat, is those who have debts. They can be classified into three types:

(a) A person who incurs debts in order to settle trouble between two people, parties, or tribes involving bloodshed, such as when there has been a killing but it is not known who the killer is, and trouble has arisen between the two sides; or to settle trouble concerning property, such as bearing the expense when trouble occurs over it. Any person within the above category is given zakat even if that person is affluent.

(b) A person who incurs debts to support himself or his dependents is given zakat only if he is poor, but not if affluent. If a person incurs a debt for something lawful but spends it on something unlawful, and then repents, and is felt to be sincere in this, and the original reason is known to have been something lawful, then that person is given zakat.

(c) The third type of people who are in debt and may be classified as a zakat recipient is - given that if there are three persons - P,Q, and R; and when R incurs a debt by guaranteeing to P that Q will pay what he owes to P; and if R finds that neither he nor Q can pay, then R is given zakat, because he has gone into debt in order to guarantee Q's debt, even if, the reason R agreed to guarantee Q was not charity, but was rather agreed that Q would pay him back.


7. Those Fighting For Allah

This refers to people engaged in Islamic military operations for whom no salary has been allotted in the army roster but who are volunteers for jihad without remuneration. They are given enough to suffice them for the operation, even if affluent; of weapons, mounts/vehicles, clothing, and expenses for the duration of the journey, round trip, and the time they spend there, even if prolonged. As for their families throughout this period, they also deserve zakat and should also be given it.


8. Travellers In Need Of Money

This refers to one who is passing through a town in Muslim lands where zakat is collected, or whose journey was not undertaken for the purpose of disobeying Allah. If such a person is in need, he is given enough to cover his personal expenses and transportation, even if he possesses money back home.

Zakat - 108 - Part 3 of 5

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL

2. Those Short of Money

The second category is people short of money - meaning someone who has something to spend for his needs but it is not enough, as when he needs five dirhams, but he only has three or four. The considerations applicable to the poor person also apply to someone short of money: namely, that he is given zakat if he cannot earn a living by work befitting him, or if he can earn a living but attainment of knowledge of Sacred Law prevents him from doing so; though if he is able to earn a living but extra devotions prevent him from doing so, then he may not take zakat.


How Much The Poor Are Given

A person who is poor or short of money is given as much as needed of tools and materials if he has a trade, such as the tools of a carpenter with which he can earn a living, or property with which a merchant can engage in trade - each according to the demands of his profession. This amount varies depending on whether e.g. he is a jeweller, a clothier, a grocer, etc.

If the recipient is unable to do any work, whether for wages, by trading, or other, then he is given enough zakat to fulfill his needs from the present till the end of his probable life expectancy based on the average lifespan for someone like him in that locality. Another ruling in this regards and based on situation and the consensus of the scholars at that time and place is that such a person is given enough for just one year.

These measures are obligatory when abundant zakat funds are available, whether the imam /ruler's representative distributes them or a property owner. But if there is not much zakat available - meaning if the funds are too little to last a poor person for his probable life expectancy or for even one year, it is distributed as it is - to an eighth of each category.


3. Zakat Workers

The third category consists of zakat workers, and this refers to the abovementioned agents dispatched by the imam/ruler of the land. These would include: the person collecting it, the clerk recording what the owners give, the person who matches the payees to recipients, and the one who distributes it to the recipients.

The zakat workers receive an eighth of the total available zakat funds. If this amount is more than what it would cost to hire someone to do their job - then they return the excess for distribution to the other categories of recipients. However, if the zakat funds amount is less than the cost of hiring someone, then enough is taken from the zakat funds to make up the difference. All of this applies only if the imam / ruler of the land is distributing the zakat and has not alloted a fee to the zakat workers from the Muslim common fund i.e. the Baitulmal. If the property owner is distributing the zakat or if the imam / ruler of the land has alloted the workers a fee from the common fund then the zakat funds are divided solely among the other categories of recipients.


Those Whose Hearts Are To Be Reconciled

The fourth category is those whose hearts are to be reconciled. If they are non-Muslims, they are not given zakat, but if Muslims, then they may be given it so that their certainty may increase, or if they are recent converts to Islam and are alienated from their kin.

Those to be reconciled include:

(a) the chief personages of a people with weak Islamic intentions whose Islam may be expected to improve, or whose peers may be expected to enter Islam; or

(b) the heads of a people who collect zakat for us from Muslims living near them who refuse to pay it, or who fight an enemy for us at considerable expense and trouble to themselves.


5. Those Purchasing Their Freedom

The fifth category is slaves who are purchasing their freedom from their owners. They are given enough to do so if they do not have the means. In this day and age, such situation are not observed.

Zakat - 108 - Part 2 of 5

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL

It is recommended that the imam / ruler of the land dispatch a zakat worker to collect zakat funds from those obliged to pay, to make this easier for them. Such an agent must be an upright Muslim who knows the rulings of zakat, and is not of the Hashimi or Muttalibi clans of Quraysh.


The Eight Categories of Recipients

It is obligatory to distribute one's zakat among eight categories of recipients - meaning that zakat goes to none besides them, one-eighth of the zakat to each category:

1. The Poor

The first category is the poor, meaning someone who:

(a) does not have enough to suffice himself; such as not having any wealth at all, or having some, but he is unable to earn any wealth, and what he has is insufficient to sustain him to the end of his probable life expectancy if it were distributed over the probable amount of remaining time. Insufficient here means - it is less than half of what he needs. If he requires ten dirhams a day for example, but the amount he has when divided by the time left in his probable life expectancy is four dirhams a day or less, not paying for his food, clothing, housing, and whatever he cannot do without, to a degree suitable to someone of his standing without extravagance or penury, then he is poor - all of which applies as well to the needs of those he must support. A mechanic's tools or a scholar's books are not sold or considered part of his money, since he needs them to earn a living.

(b) and is either:

(i) unable to earn his living by work suitable to him; such as a noble profession befitting him, given his health and social position; as opposed to work unbefitting him, which is considered the same as not having any. If such an individual were an important personage unaccustomed to earning a living by physical labour, he would be considered "poor". This also includes being able to find work suitable for one, but not finding someone to employ for that particular work; or

(2) is able to earn his living, but to do so would keep him too busy to engage in attaining knowledge of Sacred Law. If one is able to earn a living at work befitting him except that he is engaged in attaining knowledge of some subject in Sacred Law such that turning to earning a living would prevent the acquisition of this knowledge, then it is permissible for him to take zakat because the attainment of knowledge is a communal obligation; though zakat is not lawful for someone able to earn a living who cannot acquire knowledge, even if he lives at a school.

The three positions concerning someone engaged in attaining religious knowledge are:

(1) that he deserves charity even when able to earn a living;
(2) that he does not deserve it at all; and
(3) that if he is an outstanding student who can be expected to develop a good comprehension of the Sacred Law and benefit the Muslims thereby, then he deserves charity, but if not, then he does not.

But if one's religious devotions are what keeps one too busy to earn a living, one is not considered poor.

Someone separated from his money by at least 81 km/50 mi is eligible for zakat. It must be noted here that this was in the past. In our day it is fitter to say that he must be far from his money in terms of common acknowledgement. Such a person's absent property is as if non-existent, and his "poverty" continues until the money is present. Likewise, someone owed money on a debt not yet due who does not have any other money is given zakat when it is distributed to suffice him until the debt becomes due.

People whose needs are met by the expenditures of those who are obliged to support them such as their husbands or families are not given zakat for poverty; though it is permissible for a third party to give zakat to such a dependent by virtue of the dependent's belonging to some category other than the poor or those short of money, such as when a person belongs to a category such as - travellers needing money, or those whose hearts are to be reconciled.

(continued)

Zakat - 108 - Part 1 of 5

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL

Giving Zakat to Deserving Recipients

It is unlawful to delay paying what is due from a zakat-payable amount of property when:

1. it has been possessed for one year;

2. one can find the eight categories of eligible recipients, or some of them - so as to be able to pay it;

3. and the property is present within 81 km /50 miles;

- unless one is awaiting a poor person more deserving than those present e.g. a relative of the person paying zakat whom he is not obliged to support, a neighbour, or a more righteous or needy person than those present. Under these circumstances it is not unlawful to delay giving it because there is an excuse, unless withholding it involves considerable harm for those presently available.

Paying Zakat In Advance

Zakat on all types of property that a year's possession of the zakat minimum makes giving obligatory, may be payed for the current year alone before the year's end whenever the property owner possesses the zakat minimum. This zakat in advance is considered valid only when the year ends and:

1. the recipient is still among the categories of people eligible for zakat; meaning, for example, that his state has not changed from poverty to wealth;

2. the zakat giver is still obligated to pay it;

3. and the property is still as it was, meaning - the zakat minimum still exists and has not been destroyed or sold.

The zakat in advance is not valid if - before the end of the year:

1. the poor person who accepted it dies, or becomes financially independent for some other reason than having accepted the zakat;

2. the giver dies;

3. the property diminishes to less than the zakat minimum by more than the amount given in advance, such as when the giver takes out 5 dirhams as zakat in advance from 200 dirhams, but his holdings are subsequently reduced by 10, i.e. to 190 dirhams, which is less than the zakat minimum, even when this reduction is because of sale.

When the zakat in advance is not valid, the giver may take it back if he has explained that the money has been given in advance by merely having said, "This is my zakat in advance," or if the recipient knows it.

If what was given as zakat still exists, the recipient gives it back together with any increment organically connected with it, such as additional weight gained by a head of livestock while in the recipient's possession. But the property owner is not entitled to take back an increment that is not organically connected to the zakat, such as its offspring born from the animal while in the recipient's possession.

If the zakat given in advance no longer exists, then the giver is entitled to take back a substitute whether it be the substitute for a commodity that is fungible, such as silver dirhams, or whether for a non-fungible commodity such as sheep or goats, in which case its price is the market value at the time the zakat in advance was accepted, not the time it ceased to exist.

After the return of the zakat in advance, the zakat giver pays the zakat from his wealth again if he is still obliged to. The zakat in advance that is paid from the zakat-payable amount (nisab) is considered as if still part of the giver's property only in respect to calculating whether the giver's total property equals the zakat-payable amount. It is not actually considered as still belonging to the zakat giver, since the recipient is entitled to dispose of it by sale or otherwise while it is in his possession. Thus, if the zakat giver paid a sheep in advance as zakat on 120 head, and one of the sheep then gave birth to a new lamb, the giver would now be obliged to pay another sheep - it being as if he owns the next highest zakat-payable amount of 121 heads.

Authorising Another to Distribute One's Zakat

It is permissible for the zakat giver to personally distribute his zakat to eligible recipients or to authorise an agent (wakil) to do so. It is permissible for the zakat giver to pay his zakat to the imam / the caliph or his representative, and this is superior unless the imam is unjust, in which case it is better to distribute it oneself.

The Prayer of the Recipient for the Zakat Giver

It is recommended for the poor person receiving zakat when the owner is distributing it to supplicate for the giver. This is also done by the agent assigned to deliver the zakat to recipients if the imam has gathered it by means of agents to distribute to the poor). The supplication read is - "May Allah reward you for what you have given, bless you in what you have retained, and purify it for you."

The Intention of Zakat

Making the intention of zakat is a necessary condition for the validity of giving zakat. The intention is made when zakat is paid to the poor person or the one being authorised to distribute it, and one must intend giving it as the zakat of one's property. It is also permissible to make the intention before paying the money. When the owner has made this intention, it is not necessary that the agent distributing it also make an intention before giving it because the owner's intention is sufficient, whether the agent is an ordinary individual or is the ruler. It is also permissible for the owner to authorise an agent to both make the intention and distribute the zakat.

Zakat - 107

THE ZAKAT OF EID-UL-FITR / ZAKAT FITRAH

Who Must Pay It

The zakat of Eid-Ul-Fitr is obligatory for every free Muslim, provided:

1. that one has the necessary amount - equivalent to 2.03 litres of food; and

2. that on the night before the Eid and on the day of Eid itself, this is in excess of what one needs to feed oneself and those whom one is obliged to support, what one needs to clothe them, and in excess of one's debts and housing expenses. If one's excess amounts to only part of the required zakat, one must pay as much of it as one has. For example, after minusing whatever necessities as above, one can afford only 1.07 litres of food, then that should be paid as Zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr.


Paying the Zakat of Eid-Ul-Fitr for One's Dependents

Someone obligated to pay the zakat of Eid-Ul-Fitr must also pay it for every person he is obliged to support, such as his wife and family - who may include his young children, grandchildren, parents, on the condition that they are Muslim and if the payer has enough food i.e. 2.03 litres per person above his own expenses and theirs. However, in terms of ruling, it should be noted that he is not obliged to pay it for his father's wife when supporting his father because of the father's financial difficulties, even though he is obliged to support her.

If one is obligated to pay the zakat of Eid-Ul-Fitr but only has enough to pay part of it, then one begins by paying one's own, then that of one's wife, his young child, father, mother, and then one's adult son who is without an income, as when he is chronically ill or insane, for otherwise one is not obligated to support an adult son.

A wealthy woman married to a man too poor to pay for her Eid-Ul-Fitr zakat is not obliged to pay her own, though it is important to understand that it is Sunnah for her to pay this and all forms of zakat to her husband, even if he spends it on her.

The zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr becomes obligatory when the sun sets on the night before the day of Eid - meaning on the evening of the last day of Ramadhan.


What Type of Food Must Be Given

The zakat of Eid-Ul-Fitr consists of 2.03 litres of the main staple food of the area in which it is given, of the kinds of crops on which zakat is payable. If the main staple is bread for example, as in many countries, only wheat may be given, and is what is meant by the expression of giving food here. For additional knowledge, it should be noted that the Hanafi school permits paying the poor the wheat's value in money, both here and for expiations. It is permissible to give the best quality of the staple food of the area, but not to give less than the usual quality; for example by giving barley where wheat is the main staple.

It is permissible to give the zakat of Eid-ul-Fitr to deserving recipients anytime during Ramadhan, though the best time is on the day of Eid-Ul-Fitr itself before the Eid prayer. It is not permissible to delay giving it until after the day of Eid - that is to say, one may give it until sunset, and it is a sin to delay until after this, and one must make it up by paying it late.

Zakat - 106

Note: Although this type of zakat may not be applicable to most of us; its existence is an exemplary proof of the complete nature of jurisprudence in Islam. Islam is perfect. Subhanallah.


ZAKAT ON MINES

1. A zakat of 2.5 percent is immediately due on gold and silver - that is to say - equivalent or more than the zakat minimum of gold or silver - and this excludes anything else - such as iron, lead, crystal, turquoise, cornellian, emerald, antimony, or other, on which there is no zakat;

2. The gold and silver are extracted from a mine - that is to say - a site at which Allah has created gold or silver located on land permissible for the miner to work or owned by him;

3. And that this amount of ore has been gathered by working the site one time, or several times uninterrupted by abandoning or neglecting the project;

4. The zakat is only paid after the ore is refined into metal;

5. If the person stops working on the site for a justifiable reason, such as for necessary travel (i.e. not for recreation, but for something such as an illness) or to fix equipment, then he adds the ore collected after the interruption to that collected before, in calculating the zakat minimum. Ore found on someone else's land belongs to the owner of the land.


ZAKAT ON TREASURE TROVES

6. An immediate zakat of 20 percent is due whenever one finds a treasure trove that was buried in pre-Islamic times (or by non-Muslims, ancient or modern) if it amounts to the zakat minimum and the land is not owned. If such a treasure is found on owned land, it belongs to the owner of the land. If found in a mosque or street, or if it was buried in Islamic times, it is considered as a lost and found article.

Such rulings display the unlikelihood of such zakat-due circumstances to exist today. Nevertheless, the ruling is there for Muslims to practice the commands of Allah SWT.

Zakat - 105

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMAAH - TRADITIONAL SHAFI"I SCHOOL

Zakat on Trade Goods

A zakat of 2.5 percent like that of gold and silver as merchandise is assessed according to its value in them is obligatory for anyone who:

1. has possessed trade goods for a year whether the merchandise itself remains, or whether there is sale and replacement;

2. whose value at the zakat year's end, as at equals or exceeds the zakat minimum (592.9 grams of silver if bought with monetary currency or silver, and 84.7 grams of gold if bought with gold, these being reckoned according to the values of silver and gold existing during the year);
provided:

3. that the trade goods have been acquired through a transaction such as a purchase, or acquired by a woman as her marriage payment (Mahr), or received as a gift given in return for something else, or such as articles rented from someone in order to rent them out to others at a profit, or land rented from someone in order to rent it out to others at a profit;

4. and that at the time of acquisition, the owner intended to use the goods for trade. There is no zakat on the trade goods if the owner acquired them by estate division or received them as a gift, or if he acquired them by purchase but at the time did not intend using them for trade.

THE BEGINNING OF THE ZAKAT YEAR FOR TRADE GOODS

When the owner buys trade goods that cost at least the gold or silver zakat minimum, the year of the merchandise's possession is considered to have begun at the beginning of the gold or silver's zakat year, so that a merchant's zakat is figured yearly on his total business capital and goods. But the year of the merchandise's possession is considered to have begun at the moment of purchase if:

1. the owner has bought the merchandise for less than the zakat minimum, provided the price of the merchandise plus his remaining money do not amount to the zakat minimum;

2. or he has bought it in exchange for non-monetary goods provided these are not also trade goods, for if they are, the zakat year continues from the zakat year of the previous goods.

ESTIMATING WHETHER THE VALUE OF ONE'S TRADE GOODS AMOUNTS TO THE ZAKAT MINIMUM OR NOT

Merchandise is appraised at its current market value at the end of the zakat year:

1. in terms of the same type of money that it was purchased with, if bought with money; i.e if purchased with silver or monetary currency, we see if the merchandise's market value at the year's end has reached the silver zakat minimum; or if with gold, we see if its market value has reached the gold minimum; even if it had been purchased for less than the zakat minimum at the beginning of the year, so that if it has now reached the value of the zakat minimum, one pays zakat on it, and if not, then there is no zakat;

2. or in terms of its value in local monetary currency, if the merchandise was acquired by other than paying money for it, such as in exchange for goods, or acquired by a woman as her marriage payment (Mahr), or by a husband in exchange for releasing his wife from marriage. If its value equals the zakat minimum, then zakat is paid. But if not, then there is no zakat on it until the end of the next year, when it is reappraised and zakat is paid if its value amounts to the zakat minimum, and so on in the following year.

It is not a condition that the value of the trade goods amount to the zakat minimum except at the end of the year; not at the beginning, middle, or during the whole of the year.

If trade goods are exchanged for other trade goods during the course of the year, this does not interrupt their possession, because zakat on merchandise is based on the value, and the value of the previous merchandise and the new merchandise is the same, so the year of its possession is not interrupted by merely transferring it from one set of goods to another, though the zakat year of the funds which a professional money changer exchange, for other funds is interrupted by each exchange; and he pays no zakat as long as he keeps changing his business capital.

If merchandise is sold during the zakat year at a profit and its price is kept until the end of the year, then zakat on the merchandise's original value is paid at the end of that zakat year, but the zakat on the profit is not paid until the profit has been possessed for a full year. A second position in the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence is that the zakat on the profit is simply paid in the current zakat year of the merchandise, just as one pays zakat on the offspring of livestock in the current year of their mothers.

Zakat - 104

FIQH: AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH; TRADITIONAL SHAFI'I SCHOOL

Zakat on Gold, Silver and Money

Zakat is obligatory for anyone who has possessed the zakat-payable amount of gold or silver for one year. (One year here refers to One-Hijri-Calendar Year and not based on the Gregorian calendar.)

The zakat-payable minimum for gold is 84.7 grams, on which 2.1175 grams (2.5 percent) is due.

The zakat-payable minimum for silver is 592.9 grams, on which 14.8225 grams (2.5 percent) is due. There is no zakat on less that this.

One must pay the zakat value of 2.5 percent on all money that has been saved for a year if it equals at least the market value of 592.9 grams of silver (that is current during the year). While there is a considerable difference between the value of the gold zakat minimum and the silver zakat minimum, the minimum for monetary currency should correspond to that of silver, since it is better for the poor.

Zakat is exacted proportionately (2.5 percent) on any amount over these minimums, whether the gold or silver is in coins, ingots, and jewellery prepared for uses that are unlawful or offensive, or articles which are permanent acquisitions.

There is no zakat on gold or silver in the shape of jewellery that is for permissible use.

Zakat - 103

FIQH: TRADITIONAL AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - SHAFI'I SCHOOL

InshaAllah, this post will be useful especially for those who are pursuing or would like to pursue farming. Any family members, relatives, or friends involved in farming particularly may also benefit InshaAllah.


ZAKAT ON CROPS

The rulings of this section apply to the farmers who raise the crops. As for those who buy agricultural produce with the intention to sell it, their produce is no longer considered as crops, but is rather a type of trade goods, and the zakat on it must be paid accordingly. (This will be explained further in another post, InshaAllah.)

There is no zakat on grains or legumes except the staple types that people cultivate, dry, and store, such as wheat, barley, millet, rice, lentils, chickpeas, broad beans, grass peas, and Sana'i wheat. There is no zakat on fruit except for raw dates and grapes. The zakat on grapes is taken in raisins, and for dates, in cured dates. There is no zakat on vegetables. Nor is there zakat on seasonings such as cumin or coriander, since the aim in using them is preparation of food, not nourishment.

One is obliged to pay zakat as soon as one possesses the zakat-payable amount of grain, or when the ripeness and wholeness of a zakat-payable amount of dates or grapes is apparent. Otherwise, one is not obliged to pay the zakat.


THE ZAKAT-PAYABLE AMOUNT FOR CROPS

The minimal quantity on which zakat is payable for crops is 609.84 kilograms of net dried weight, free of husks or chaff.

For rice and Sana'i wheat, which are stored in the kernal, the zakat minimum, including husks, is 1219.68 kilograms of dried weight.

Zakat is not taken from grain until it has been winnowed i.e. that it is made free of straw, nor from fruits until they are dried i.e. that they be made into raisins and dried dates.

The produce for the entire year (i.e the agricultural year) is added together in calculating the zakat minimum; when, for example, the season's first crop alone is less than the zakat minimum. When one crop is harvested after another due to varietal differences or the location of the two fields-in the same year, and of the same kind of crop (for example: spring wheat and winter wheat), zakat is payed from them as if they were a single quantity. Different varieties of grain are also calculated additively when harvested at the same time, though the fruit or grain of a different year. Grapes however are not calculated cumulatively with dates, nor wheat with barley, as they are different from one another.

The zakat for crops that have been watered without effort, as by rain and the like, is 10 percent of the crop, i.e of the net dried storage weight of the grain, raisins, or dates. The zakat for crops that have been watered with effort such as on land irrigated by ditches, or a waterwheel is 5 percent of the crop.

If a crop has been raised without irrigation for part of the year and irrigated for part of it, then the zakat is adjusted according to the period, meaning how much of the time the fruit or crops were growing. It is more reliable to consult agricultural experts as to how much of the crop's water came from rain and how much came from irrigation. For example, if 50 percent of the water came from each, then one would pay 7.5 percent of the crop as zakat, as this is the mean between the above two percentages.

After one has paid zakat once on a crop (if one is the farmer), there is nothing further due on it (as there is no repetition of zakat on one's crops when they are in storage, unlike the repetition of it on money), even if it remains in one's possession for years.

It is unlawful for the grower to consume dates or grapes or otherwise dispose of them or sell them before they have been assessed (i.e estimated as to how much there is, and the owner made responsible for the portion to be paid as zakat), and if he does, he is responsible for the loss (since part of it belongs to the poor).

If through the decision and act of Allah SWT destroys the fruit after assessment, there is no zakat on it.

Zakat - 102

FIQH: TRADITIONAL AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - SHAFI'IYYAH
MASA'ALAH: ZAKAT

Continuing our discussion on Zakat, the next issue is on Livestocks. I know that this may not be relevant to the most of us, though those who are involved in the business will find this useful, InshaAllah. Zakat on livestock is a command of Allah SWT.

Zakat on Livestock

1. Zakat on livestock is restricted to camels, cattle, sheep, and goats only.

2. Zakat is obligatory when one has owned:
(a) a zakat-payable number of livestock;
(b) for one year;
(c) and has been grazing them for the entire year.

3. There is no zakat on work animals, for example, those trained to plow or bear loads, since the purpose in having them is utility, like clothes or household furnishings, and is not production.

4. Grazing means that they have been grazed on open range pasturage; excluding pasturage growing on land that a person owe, as it would then be considered fodder. (Fodder refers to coarse food for livestock, composed of entire plants, including leaves, stalks, and grain.)

5. If the livestock have been given fodder for a period long enough that they would have been unable to survive had they not eaten during it, then there is no zakat on them, though if fed with it for less than such a period, then this does not affect the necessity of paying zakat on them.

6. There is no zakat on cattle that have been solely fed fodder or grain, even if they could have otherwise been grazed. It is religiously more precautionary and of greater benefit to the poor to follow Imam Malik on this question. ImamMalik holds that zakat is obligatory whenever one has possessed a zakat-payable number of livestock for a year, whether or not they are work animals, and whether they have been grazed on open pasturage or fed with fodder for the entire year.


Zakat On Cattle

7. For cattle,the minimum on which zakat is payable is 30 heads, for which it is obligatory to pay a yearling, meaning a male calf in its second year (though a female may take its place, being worth more).

8. The zakat due on 40 heads is a two-year-old female that has entered its third year (a male will not suffice).

9. The zakat on 60 heads is 2 yearling males. Zakat on additional numbers is figured in the same way: on 30 heads, a yearling male, and on 40 heads, a two-year-old female (according to which of the two alternatives accommodates the last 10 heads.


Zakat On Sheep And Goats

10. For sheep or goats (the Arabic ghanam meaning both), the minimum on which zakat is payable is 40, on which it is obligatory to pay a shah, meaning either a one-year-old sheep ( in its second year) or a two-year-old goat (in its third year). The zakat on 121 sheep or goats is 2 shahs; on 201 sheep or goats is 3, on 400 sheep or goats is 4 and for every additional 100 the zakat is 1 shah.


Calculating The Number Of Animals

11. Numbers (of camels, cattle or sheep) which are between zakat quantities (i.e. which number more than the last relevant zakat quantity but do not amount to the next highest one) are not counted, and no zakat is due on them.

12. New offspring of a zakat-payable quantity of livestock that are born during the year are counted for the zakat of the year their mothers are currently in, no matter whether their mothers survive or die.

13. Thus, if one owned 40 sheep or goats which gave birth to 40 young a month before the year's end, but then the 40 mothers died, one's zakat on the offspring would be 1 shah.

14. If a group of livestock are all female, or are both male and female, then only a female animal may be paid as zakat, except as mentioned above for 30 cattle, where a yearling male is acceptable.

15. If a group of livestock are all male, then a male animal may be paid as zakat.

16. If all the livestock are below the minimum age that may be given as zakat, then one of them is given anyway. But if the herd is mixed, with only some of them underage, then only an animal of the acceptable age may be paid.

17. If the animals of the herd are defective, an animal is taken which is of the average defectiveness (of the group, defective meaning with defects that permit return for refund when sold as merchandise).

18. If the herd is composite, such as sheep and goats, then either kind may be paid as zakat, though the value of the animal given must correspond to the average value of the members of the herd.

19. The following are not taken as zakat unless the owner wishes to give them:

(i) a pregnant female (O: because of its superiority);

(ii) one that has given birth (O: because of the high yield of milk);

(iii) a stud (O: as it is for insemination, and the owner would suffer its loss);

(iv) a superior quality animal;

(v) or one fattened for eating.


Zakat On Jointly Owned Property Or Ventures With Shared Facilities

20. Two people pay zakat jointly as a single person if:

(i) they jointly own a zakat-payable amount of livestock or something else (such as fruit, grain, money, or trade goods), as when two people inherit it;

(ii) or when the property is not jointly owned, as when each owner has, for example, 20 heads of cattle (of a herd amounting to the zakat minimum of 40), but they share the same place to bed them down, to gather them before grazing, to pasture, water, or milk them, or share the same stud, employ the same shepherd, or similar, such as having the same watchman (for orchards and fields), the same drying or threshing floor (for fruit or grain), the same store, or the same warehouse.

Zakat - 101

FIQH: TRADITIONAL AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - SHAFI'IYYAH
MASA'ALAH: ZAKAT


Who Must Pay Zakat ?

Zakat means growth, blessings an increase in good, purification, or praise.

In Sacred Law it is the name for a particular amount of property that must be payed to certain kinds of recipients under the conditions mentioned below.

It is called zakat because one's wealth grows through the blessings of giving it and the prayers of those who receive it, and because it purifies its giver of sin and extolls him by testifying to the genuineness of his faith.


Zakat Is Obligatory:

(a) for every free Muslim (male, female, adult, or child)
(b) who has possessed a zakat-payable amount (nisab, i.e. the minimum that necessitates zakat)
(c) for one lunar year


Non-Muslims & Apostates

Non-Muslims are not obliged to pay zakat, nor apostates from Islam (murtad) unless they return to Islam, in which case they must pay for the time they spent out of Islam, though if they die as non-Muslims, their property is not subject to zakat.


Children & The Insane

The guardian of a child or insane person is obliged to pay zakat from their property if they owe any. It is a sin for the guardian not to pay the zakat due on their property, and when the child reaches puberty or when the insane person becomes sane, he is obliged to pay the amount that his guardian neglected to pay.


Lost, Stolen And Found

For property that has been - wrongfully seized, stolen, lost, fallen into the sea, loaned to someone who is tardy in repayment; the owner only has to pay zakat due on such property when he / she regains possession of it, whereupon he must pay zakat on it for the whole time it was out of his hands. However, if the property has diminished through expenditure to less than the zakat-payable amount, then no zakat need be paid on it. And of course, if the owner cannot regain the property, there is no zakat on it.


Zakat is not due on anything besides:

(1) livestock
(2) food crops
(3) gold and silver, or their monetary equivalents
(4) trade goods
(5) mined wealth (meaning gold or silver exclusively)
(6) and wealth from treasure trovers (buried in pre-Islamic times)


Pay Zakat With What? From What?

Zakat is paid from the property itself, though it is permissible to take it from another lot of property on condition that the amount paid is from the same type of property of the five types mentioned above that the zakat is due on, such that one may not, for example, pay money for zakat due on wheat but must pay wheat. An exception to this is trade goods, which are appraised, and zakat may be paid on them with money.


The Zakat Year

By the mere fact that a full lunar year transpires, the poor now own the portion of it that the owner is obliged to pay as zakat.


Destroyed Property

In the rare situation where if all of one's property were destroyed after having been in one's possession a full year but before it was possible to pay zakat, then there is no obligation to pay zakat on it; but if only part of the property has been destroyed, such that this diminishes the rest to less than the zakat-payable amount, then one must take the percentage due on the original amount (2.5%, for example) from the remaining property, and no zakat is paid on the amount destroyed.

If all or part of one's property is destroyed after having been in one's possession a full year and after it was possible to have paid zakat on it by there being both property and recipients, then one must pay the zakat due on both the remainder and the property destroyed.


Ownership

Zakat is not obligatory if a person's ownership of the property ceases during the year, even if only for a moment, and it then returns to his possession; or if it does not return; or if the person dies during the year.

Paying Zakat To Family

Example Question:

Can a mother pay the zakat due from her to her adult children, who are struggling to support themselves? The father of these children is deceased and they are struggling to maintain themselves while studying in the west.

Answer:

Zakat cannot be given to ascendants or descendants. The Zakat will not bedischarged. In such situations, the Baytulmal should be informed. Also, other people who want to pay zakat may be approached to inform of the situation.