The Ruling on the Zakah of Honey and Its Conditions
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner asks: Is there zakah on honey? And does it have specific conditions?
Answer:
There is scholarly disagreement regarding honey. Some scholars hold that there is no zakah on it because the owner does not obtain it until later, and it does not complete a lunar year of possession in his hands.
It is like, for example, what a person who picks up lost items gathers from the harvests. If he collects grains that reach the minimum threshold for zakah, there is no zakah on him because he did not own them at the time the grain hardened and the zakah became obligatory. It is newly acquired earnings on which there is no zakah. This is the view of the majority of scholars and is the correct one.
Some scholars hold that there is zakah on it, because it falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:267] Since bees feed on flowers and on what comes out of the earth, it falls under the general scope of the verse. Also, it is narrated from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to take zakah; he would take one-tenth, taking one jar from every ten jars.
So, if one pays the zakah on it as a precaution, once it reaches one hundred and sixty pounds, if he pays the zakah on it as a precaution, he certainly clears his conscience. However, regarding its obligation, there is no clear evidence for its obligation.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner asks: Is there zakah on honey? And does it have specific conditions?
Answer:
There is scholarly disagreement regarding honey. Some scholars hold that there is no zakah on it because the owner does not obtain it until later, and it does not complete a lunar year of possession in his hands.
It is like, for example, what a person who picks up lost items gathers from the harvests. If he collects grains that reach the minimum threshold for zakah, there is no zakah on him because he did not own them at the time the grain hardened and the zakah became obligatory. It is newly acquired earnings on which there is no zakah. This is the view of the majority of scholars and is the correct one.
Some scholars hold that there is zakah on it, because it falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنفِقُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِSo, if one pays the zakah on it as a precaution, once it reaches one hundred and sixty pounds, if he pays the zakah on it as a precaution, he certainly clears his conscience. However, regarding its obligation, there is no clear evidence for its obligation.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 30 — archive.org (2:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.