For other Islamic State primary source material on Zakat, see:
. The Islamic State's System of Zakat
. Islamic State Pamphlet on Zakat
. Various Islamic State Fatwas on Zakat
---------------------------
The following text that is the subject of this post is essentially a simplified form of the Islamic State's guide to the system of Zakat published by the al-Himma Library. This simplified guide to Zakat, prepared by the Office of Research and Studies (now defunct), was specifically intended for instruction in the Islamic State's training camps.
Summary of the Jurisprudence of Zakat
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Introduction
Praise be to God who gives might to the one who obeys Him, and lowers the one who disobeys Him, and prayers and peace be upon his Messenger and chosen one, and on his family, companions and whoso is loyal to him. As for what follows:
Zakat is among the greatest pillars of Islam, and it is among the rights of 'there is no deity but God.' The one who refrains from fulfilling it is to be fought, just as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with him) did.
And therefore we have put in place a summary of the jurisprudence of Zakat, far removed from exhaustive treatment of the lines of evidence and mentioning the disagreements that have pertained to things besides this text. And that is so that this book can be taught in the camps of the Islamic State (may God make it mighty).
We ask God to bless it, and the last of our prayers is praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds, and God's peace and blessings be upon the most noble of the prophets and those sent.
Office of Research and Studies
Defining Zakat
Zakat as a linguistic term: purification and cleanliness, and growth and increase.
Zakat is called as such because it purifies the soul of the one giving Zakat and it purifies his wealth and increases it and blesses it. The Almighty has said: 'Take from their wealth a charity by which you may purify and cleanse them'- (al-Tawba 103).
And Zakat in law: an obligatory right on wealth that has reached a specific nisab with specified conditions, and for a specified group.
And it is the third pillar of the pillars of Islam. The Almighty has said: 'And establish prayer and give Zakat'- (al-Muzammal 20).
And SAWS said: 'Islam has been built on five things: testifying that there is no deiy but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and establishment of prayer, and giving Zakat, and Hajj of the House, and fasting of Ramadan'- (agreed upon).
Ruling on Zakat
Zakat is an individual obligation on all in whom the conditions of its obligation are met, by the Book, Sunna and consensus.
So from the Book: the Almighty's words: 'And establish prayer and give Zakat'- (al-Baqara 43).
And from the Sunna: the hadith of Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with them both) that is marfu' and in it: 'That God has imposed on them a charity on their wealth, to be taken from their rich and rendered unto their poor'- (agreed upon).
And as for the consensus, Imam Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (may God have mercy on him): 'And the Muslims in all ages have agreed by consensus on its obligation'- (al-Mughanni 2/427).
. The ruling on the one who abandons the fulfilment of Zakat:
The Ahl al-'Ilm have agreed by consensus on the kufr of the one who stubbornly opposes the obligation of Zakat. As for the one who abandons the fulfilment of Zakat while admitting its obligation, then he comes under one of two conceptions.
The first conception: that he abandons its fulfilment without refraining, so this person is committing one of the great sins as is the position of the majority of the 'ulama.
And the evidence for that is that the Prophet (SAWS) said, when he mentioned the one who abandons the fulfilment of Zakat and his state in the Afterlife: 'So he will see his path, either to Paradise or to Hellfire'- (narrated by Muslim). And if he were a disbeliever there would only be a path for him to the Hellfire.
The second conception: that he abandons its fulfilment refraining by force and power, so that is apostasy from the religion, and this is what Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with him) opined and he was followed in that by all the companions.
The Wisdom of the Legitimacy of Zakat:
1. Purification of the human soul from miserliness, and evil and greed.
2. Compassion for the poor, and meeting the needs of the destitute, the wretched and the deprived.
3. Establish the general interests, upon which the life and happiness of the Ummah depend.
4. Cleansing the wealth from what has been connected with it from sins and defects.
Chapter: The Wealth Upon Which Zakat is Obligatory
The wealth upon which Zakat is obligatory is of four types:
Valuables, grazing livestock, what comes out from the land, and trade offers.
Valuables:
And they are: gold, silver and paper money: so Zakat is obligatory on gold when it reaches 20 mithqals: 2.5%
And Zakat is obligatory on silver when it reaches 200 dirhams: 2.5% as well.
And as for current paper money, it is assessed on the basis of value, so when it reaches the nisab of one of the two monies, Zakat is obligatory on it and its extent is 2.5% when the year passes on it.
Zakat on jewellery: there is no disagreement among the Ahl al-'Ilm on the obligation of Zakat on jewellery that is prepared for storage and leasing for business, and on the prohibited jewellery, like the man who uses a ring of gold, or the women who uses jewellery made in the image of an animal or on it is the image of an animal.
As for jewellery prepared for permitted use and loaning, the predominant view from the two pronouncements of the Ahl al-'Ilm is the lack of obligation of Zakat on it. And it is the view established in authentic chains of transmission on the authority of Ibn Omar, Jaber and A'isha and Asma the two daughters of al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with them). And it is the position of Malik, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad. And the Sheikh of Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may God have mercy on him) adopted this position.
And what has been narrated from hadiths on the obligation of Zakat of jewellery, those hadiths are not devoid of weakness in narration.
And likewise what has been narrated on the authority of Omar and Abdullah bin Amro and Ibn Mas'oud (may God be pleased with them) on the obligation of Zakat on jewellery, their chains of narration are all weak.
. Zakat on grazing livestock:
Zakat is obligatory on camels, cattle and sheep if they have been grazing on the land for the year or more, and have been for milking and offspring. So if they reach the nisab and the year passed on them, their Zakat is to be taken out as follows:
. Camels:
And their nisab and Zakat is as follows:
From |
To |
Extent of Zakat |
5 |
9 |
1 sheep |
10 |
14 |
2 sheep |
15 |
19 |
3 sheep |
20 |
24 |
4 sheep |
25 |
25 |
Bint Makhad and it is of the camels. It is 1 year old. |
36 |
45 |
Bint Labun and it is 2 years old. |
46 |
60 |
Hiqqa and it is 3 years old. |
61 |
75 |
Jadh'a and it is 4 years old. |
76 |
90 |
2 Bint Labuns |
91 |
120 |
2 Hiqqas |
As for what goes beyond 120, the obligation is a bint labun for every 40, and a hiqqa for every 50.
. Cattle:
And their nisab and Zakat is as follows:
From |
To |
Extent of Zakat |
30 |
39 |
Tabi' and it is 1 year old. |
40 |
59 |
Musanna and it is 2 years old. |
60 |
69 |
Two Tabi's |
70 |
79 |
Tabi' and Musanna |
Beyond, it is a tabi' for every 30 and a musanna for every 40.
. Sheep: and their nisab and Zakat is as follows:
From |
To |
Extent of Zakat |
40 |
120 |
1 sheep |
121 |
200 |
2 sheep |
201 |
399 |
3 sheep |
Beyond that, it is 1 sheep for every 100.
. If the grazing livestock- 'camels, cattle and sheep'- are prepared for business, and the year passes upon them, their value is to be assessed and the Zakat of 2.5% is given on their value.
. Only the female is to be taken in charity, and the male is not to be given in place except in Zakat of cattle and the ibn labun or hiqq or jadh' for the place of the bint makhad or if the nisab entirely consists of males.
. What comes out from the land:
Grains and fruits: Zakat is obligatory on all grains and every fruit that is measured and stored like dates and raisins.
And the condition for reaching the nisab: and its extent is 300 prophetic sa's: that is, what equals 624 kilograms approximately.
. The fruit of the one year is to be joined to each other in realising the nisab if they are one type, like the types of dates for example.
The obligation on Zakat of grains and fruits:
a) 10% on what has been watered without artificial help, like watering through rains.
b) 5% in what has been watered with artificial help like water of wells.
. There is no Zakat on vegetables and perishable fruits.
Rikaz:
The rikaz is what has been found from the buried things of Jahiliya in gold or silver or other such things from what has upon it the sign of Jahiliya. And 20% Zakat is obligatory on it, whether small or large, and there is no condition of the year or the nisab upon it. This is for the general nature of SAWS' words: 'And on rikaz is the fifth part'- (agreed upon).
. Trade offers:
Offers: plural of offer, and it is what the Muslim has prepared for business from any kind, and it is the most general and comprehensive of the types of wealth of Zakat.
And it has been called as such: because it is not stable, but rather goes on display then disappears, for the business does not want this item per se, but rather he wants to make profit on it from the two monies.
So when the year passes on them, they are assessed by one of the two monies of gold or silver, so if the value reaches the nisab 2.5% is obligatory on them.
Chapter: The People of Zakat
The people of Zakat are those entitled to it, and they are eight classes defined by God (Almighty and Exalted is He) in His words: 'And indeed charities are for the fuqara', the masakeen, the 'amilun 'alayha, the mu'allafa qulubhum, and for the riqab, the gharimun, in the path of God, and ibn al-sabeel: an obligation from God, and God is knowing, wise'- (al-Tawba 60).
And to clarify these types is what follows:
1. The fuqara': plural of faqir, and it is the one who does not have what can pay his need, and the need of those dependent on him, from food, drink, clothing and residency, in that he does not find anything, or he finds less than half of the sufficiency. And he is to be given from Zakat what suffices for him for a whole year.
2. The masakeen: plural of maskeen, and it is the one who finds half of his sufficiency or more than half, like the one who has 100 and needs 200. And he is to be given from Zakat what sufficies for him for the period of a year.
3. The 'amilun 'alayha: plural of 'amil, and it is the one the Imam sends to collect the charities, so the Imam gives him what suffices for him for the period of his coming and going even if he is rich, because the worker has freed himself up for this work, and the workers are all who work in collecting them, and recording them, and guarding them, and distributing them to those entitled to them.
4. The mu'allafa qulubhum: and they are a people given Zakat, to win over their hearts to Islam if they are disbelievers, and strengthening their faith if they are of the weak of faith neglectful in their acts of worship, or to make their relatives desire to convert to Islam, or to ward off their harm.
5. For the riqab: plural of ruqba, and the meaning by this is the Muslim slave or female slave bought from the wealth of Zakat and manumitted, or the slave is mukatab so he is given from Zakat that by which he can cover the instalments of his kitaba so he can become free and able to dispose of himself, and a beneficial member in society, and he is able to worship God Almighty in the most complete way.
6. The gharimun: plural of gharim, and it is the person in debt who has born a debt for something besides an act of disobedience to God, for himself in a permitted matter, or for something besides it like making amends. So this person is to be given from Zakat that by which he can pay off his debt. And the gharim for making amends among people is to be given something from the Zakat even if he is rich.
7. In the path of God: the meaning here are volunteers who go on expeditions in the path of God and do not have a salary from the Bayt al-Mal, so they are given something from the Zakat, whether they are rich or fuqara'.
8. Ibn al-sabeel: and it is the traveller cut off from his land who needs money to continue the travel to his land.
And the last of our prayers is praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds. And God's peace and blessings be upon the most noble of the prophets and those sent.