SECTION ON ZAKĀT · 1 – ASSETS SUBJECT TO ZAKĀT
1558 – It is narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no zakāt on less than five camels; there is no zakāt on less than five uqiyyas (of silver); and there is no zakāt on less than five wasqs of measured produce.”
EXPLANATION
Zūd: Camels numbering between three and ten are called zūd. This word has no singular form. Evāqī: This is the plural of uqiyya. Uqiyya is forty dirhams. Awsuq: This is the plural of wasq. A wasq is a container large enough to hold sixty sāʿs. Thus, zakāt is not obligatory on measured grains unless they reach three hundred sāʿs. One sāʿ is one thousand forty dirhams, which is 3,333 grams. There is a measure of wealth required for giving zakāt. This measure is called niṣāb. One who owns fewer than five camels has not reached the niṣāb and does not give zakāt. For silver, five uqiyyas, with each uqiyya being forty dirhams, means that silver less than two hundred dirhams is not subject to zakāt. For five wasqs, with each wasq being sixty sāʿs, one who does not have three hundred sāʿs of wheat is not subject to zakāt on grains. This is the view of Imām Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad. According to Imām Abū Ḥanīfa, agricultural produce is subject to zakāt whether it is little or much; the condition of five wasqs is not required.
1559 – Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī narrates from our Prophet as a marfūʿ report: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no zakāt on less than five wasqs.” A wasq is sixty sāʿs that have been officially stamped. [437]
EXPLANATION
The stamping of sāʿs is done by the municipality to ensure a standard measure. The same applies to scales and other measuring instruments. A wasq that has received the stamp of Ḥajjāj means sixty sāʿs.
1560 – It is narrated from Mughīra, who narrated from Ibrāhīm (may Allah be pleased with him), that they said: “A wasq is sixty sāʿs that have received the stamp of Ḥajjāj.”
1561 – It is narrated from Surād ibn Abī’l-Menāzil (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard Ḥabīb al-Mālikī. A man said to ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn: “O Abā Nujayd, you narrate hadiths to us, but we cannot find their basis in the Qur’an.” ʿImrān became angry with the man and said to him: “Did you find in the Qur’an that you must give one dirham for every forty dirhams (as zakāt)? Did you find in the Qur’an that for such and such number of sheep, such and such number of sheep must be given, or for such and such number of camels, such and such number of camels must be given?” The man replied, “No.” ʿImrān said: “From whom did you learn these things?” “You learned them from us, and we learned them from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him),” he said, and he mentioned many similar things.
EXPLANATION
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) is the interpreter (mufassir) of the Qur’an. Whatever he has commanded, it is necessary to believe in and act upon. Whatever he has forbidden, it is necessary to avoid. One of the four sources is the sunnah; in matters for which there is no evidence in the Qur’an, we are obliged to seek out the hadiths. If we cannot find it in the sunnah, we turn to consensus (ijmāʿ); if not found in consensus, then we turn to the analogy (qiyās) of the jurists. It is wrong to deny something just because it is not found in the Qur’an.