If the one who owes zakah withholds it, is it taken from him by force, and is half his wealth taken from him as a discretionary punishment?

Question : I do not know if it is taken from him by force.

Answer : Yes, it is not taken from him by force. Nor are they to demand it from him if he is unable to pay this zakah. Rather, we say: If you wish, withhold it in the future; you have nothing with us except this. But is half his wealth taken along with it, or not? There is scholarly disagreement on this, and the correct view is that one looks at the public benefit. Then, if we say it is permissible to take half the wealth, is the meaning that they take half of all his wealth, or that they take half of the wealth subject to zakah from which he withheld the zakah? This is closer, because the default is that wealth is protected. So if the wording is ambiguous, it may mean they take half of his wealth, i.e., the wealth subject to zakah from which he withheld the zakah, or they take all his wealth. Since the default is the protection of wealth, we interpret it as the minimum estimate.