1884. The person who is charged by the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ to collect zakÁt, may demand the zakÁt at the time of harvesting when the wheat or barley grains are separated from the chaff, or the time when the fresh dates have dried, or the grapes have turned into raisins. If the owner fails to give it, and the commodity on which zakÁt became obligatory gets destroyed, he will have to pay for its replacement.
1885. If dates or grapes become subject to zakÁt after a person comes to own a date or grape tree, or wheat or barley become subject to it after he owns a crop of wheat or barley, he will have to pay its zakÁt.
1886. If a person sells a crop of wheat or barley after they become subject to zakÁt, or date and grape trees after they become subject to it, the seller will have to pay their zakÁt.
1887. If a person buys the entire stock of wheat, barley, dates or grapes from someone, knowing that the seller has paid their zakÁt, then no zakÁt will be obligatory on him. However, if he knows that the seller has not paid it, then in the event that the seller pays it, the transaction will be in order. It will similarly be in order if the buyer pays its zakÁt, and he may revert to the seller for it. In other than these two cases, if the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ does not authorize the transaction for the amount that was to be paid as zakÁt, the transaction will be void for that amount, and the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ may take the amount of the zakÁt from the buyer. However, if he permits the transaction of the amount that was to be paid as zakÁt, the transaction will be valid, and the buyer must give the value of the amount to the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ. In the event that the buyer had paid the seller for that amount, he may claim it back from him.
If the buyer doubts whether the zakÁt was paid or not, it is problematic to claim that the property (in his possession) is in actuality not subject to zakÁt.
1888. If the weight of wheat, barley, dates or raisins reaches the niÒÁb while it is wet, but falls below the niÒÁb after it dries, it will not be subject to zakÁt.
1889. If the wheat, barley, dates or raisins are consumed before they dry, then given that their dry weight reaches the niÒÁb, zakÁt will be obligatory on it.
1890. Dates are of three kinds:
1. The kind that is dried. Its rulings have already been elaborated.
2. The kind that is eaten while it is in the ruÔab stage.
3. The kind that is eaten in its un-ripened form (khalÁl stage)
If the weight of the dried form of the second type reaches the niÒÁb, it will be subject to zakÁt based on obligatory precaution. As for the third kind, it is not subject to zakÁt.
1891. The wheat, barley, dates or raisins whose zakÁt has been paid, will not be subject to zakÁt (again) even if they remain in the possession of the owner for a few years.
1892. If the wheat, barley, dates or grapes are watered with rain water, the water from a river, or the wetness in the earth, its zakÁt will be 10%. If it is irrigated with buckets or similar methods, its zakÁt will be 5%.
1893. If the wheat, barley, dates, or grapes are watered both with rain water (or similar sources) and buckets (or similar methods), then:
1. if it is watered in a manner that would commonly be viewed as being watered by buckets or similar methods, its zakÁt will be 5%.
2. if it is watered in a manner that would commonly be viewed as being watered by rain or similar sources, its zakÁt will be 10%.
3. if it is watered in a manner that would commonly be viewed as being watered using both ways, its zakÁt will be 7.5%.
1894. If a person doubts and does not know whether the common understanding would view the land to be watered using both ways, or consider it to be watered with—for example—rain water only, then giving 7.5% will suffice.
1895. If a person doubts and does not know whether the common understanding would view the land to be watered using both ways, or consider it to be watered with buckets, then giving 5% will suffice. The same will apply if the third probability is added to it, in that the common understanding would view it as being watered by rain water.
1896. If the wheat, barley, dates or grapes are watered with rain water or similar sources, and do not develop a need to be watered by buckets or similar methods, but are watered with them nonetheless, and that does not lead to an increase in the crops, then its zakÁt will be 10%. If it is watered by buckets or similar methods, and does not develop a need for rain water or similar sources, but is watered by them nonetheless, and that does not lead to an increase in the crops, then its zakÁt will be 5%.
1897. If a field is watered with buckets or similar methods, and an adjacent land is farmed, which makes use of its wetness, thereby not needing any extra watering, then the zakÁt of the land that was watered with buckets is 5%. As for the adjacent land, if it belongs to someone other than the owner of the first land, its zakÁt will be 10%. The same will apply, based on obligatory precaution, if it belongs to the owner of the first land.
1898. One may not deduct the expenses incurred in the production of wheat, barley, dates or grapes, and then determine whether his crop reaches the niÒÁb or not. Therefore, if any of them reaches the niÒÁb before accounting for the expenses, its zakÁt will have to be paid.
1899. A person may not deduct the seeds that are used to farm the crop—regardless of whether he owns them or buys them—from the crops and then determine whether the crop reaches the niÒÁb or not; rather, he must account for the niÒÁb with respect to the entire crop.
1900. The portion that the government takes from one’s actual property itself is not subject to zakÁt. However, the remaining will be subject to it. For example, if one’s crop is 850 kgs, and the government takes 50 kgs as taxes, then zakÁt will only be obligatory on 800 kgs.
1901. Obligatory precaution dictates that one may not deduct the expenses that he incurs before the property is subject to zakÁt, and then pay zakÁt on the remaining property.
1902. One may seek permission from the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ with respect to the expenses that he incurs after the property is subject to zakÁt to deduct those expenses spent for zakÁt.
1903. One may not pay zakÁt before the crop is subject to it. However, once it is subject to zakÁt, it is not necessary to wait until the wheat or barley is ready for harvesting and threshing, or the dates or grapes have dried; rather, the moment it becomes subject to zakÁt, one may determine the value of the zakÁt and give that amount with the intention of zakÁt.
1904. Once the crop is subject to zakÁt, one may give the crop of wheat or barley itself before it is harvested, or the dates or grapes itself before they are picked, to a deserving person, or the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ or their representative, in the form of joint ownership, and thereafter they will share the expenses.
1905. In the event that the owner submits that crops itself, the dates or the grapes (themselves) to a deserving person, the ÎÁkim al-sharaÞ or their representatives, he may demand payment as rent for keeping them on his land until they are ready for harvesting or until they have dried up.
1906. If a person owns wheat, barley, dates or grapes in various cities, whose harvesting times differ from each other, and their crops or fruits are not acquired simultaneously, but are considered to be the harvest of one year, then if the crop or fruit that ripens first reaches the niÒÁb, he will have to pay its zakÁt the moment it ripens, and pay the zakÁt of the remaining whenever they are acquired.
However, if that which ripens first does not reach the niÒÁb, he will have to wait until the rest of it ripens. Then, if the combined harvest reaches the niÒÁb, it will be subject to zakÁt, and if it does not, it will not be subject to it.
1907. If a date or grape tree bears fruit twice a year, and the sum of the produce reaches the niÒÁb, obligatory precaution dictates that it be subject to zakÁt.
1908. If a person possesses an amount of fresh dates or grapes whose dried form would reach the niÒÁb, and he chooses to give—with the intention of zakÁt —an amount of the fresh produce, whose dried form would be equal to the zakÁt that is obligatory on him, there will be no problem in doing so.
1909. If the zakÁt of dried dates or raisins is obligatory on a person, he may not give fresh dates or grapes with the intention of paying the zakÁt that is obligatory on him. Similarly, if the zakÁt of fresh dates or grapes is obligatory on a person, he may not give dried dates or raisins with the intention of paying the zakÁt that is obligatory on him. In fact, obligatory precaution dictates that he may not even give the fresh form of the produce in place of its dried form, or vice-versa with the intention of paying its value.
1910. Should a person who is indebted, and who also possesses a property that is subject to zakÁt, pass away, the zakÁt of the property that is subject to it will have to be paid completely first, and then can his debt be paid off (from it).
1911. If a person who is in debt passes away, and he owns wheat, barley, dates or grapes, and before they become subject to zakÁt, his inheritors pay off his debt from another property, then each inheritor whose share reaches the niÒÁb will have to pay its zakÁt.
However, if they fail to pay off his debt before the property becomes subject to zakÁt, then if the property of the deceased is just sufficient to pay off the debt, it will not be subject to zakÁt. However, if the property of the deceased is more than his debts, they should first determine the proportion of the property that is subject to zakÁt with respect to his entire property, which may be a half, a third, a quarter or similar proportion. Then, the amount (to pay off the debt) should be subtracted from the property subject to zakÁt to that proportion, and the remaining should be passed on to the inheritors. Thereafter, the share of each inheritor whose share reaches the niÒÁb will be subject to zakÁt.
1912. If the wheat, barley, dates or raisins that are subject to zakÁt, contain portions of good and portions of inferior quality, the obligatory precaution is that one should not pay the zakÁt of the good portions from the inferior one.
1913. Gold has two niÒÁbs:
The first niÒÁb is twenty shar’Ðyy mithqÁls (each mithqÁl being equal to 18 nukhÙd), each of which according to a great number of renowned scholars is equal to 0.75 conventional (seyrufi) mithqÁls. Therefore, if the gold reaches twenty shar’Ðyy mithqÁls (fifteen conventional mithqÁls), and also possesses the other conditions which were mentioned earlier, a person will have to pay one-fortieth of it (nine nukhÙd) as zakÁt. If it does not reach this amount, no zakÁt will be levied on it.
The second niÒÁb is four shar’Ðyy mithqÁls, which is equal to three conventional mithqÁls. That is, if three (conventional) mithqÁls are added to the fifteen mithqÁls, then a person will have to pay a zakÁt of 2.5% on the entire eighteen mithqÁls. However, if less than three mithqÁls are added to it, he will only have to pay zakÁt on the fifteen mithqÁls (which was the first nisab), and the balance will not be subject to it. The same will apply on every other addition. Therefore, if three mithqÁls are added, the zakÁt of the entire sum will have to be paid. However, if less than three mithqÁls are added, the added amount will not be subject to zakÁt.
