Zakah on Honey for the Trader and the Owner of the Apiary

The questioner : He says: Honorable Shaykh, I trade in honey. Is it obligatory for me to pay zakah on it, knowing that I buy and sell it, and it does not remain with me for a full year? If there is zakah on it, what is the amount of this obligatory zakah, and how do I pay it?

The Shaykh : Yes. As for the seller of honey, those who buy and sell it, these are honey traders, and zakah is obligatory on them on the honey as zakah on trade goods, like other traders. When the time for zakah comes, they estimate the value of the honey they have and give one-fourth of a tenth. How do I know one-fourth of a tenth? I know one-fourth of a tenth by dividing the money by forty. Whatever comes out of the division is one-fourth of a tenth. If I have forty thousand, what is one-fourth of a tenth? One thousand. I divide forty thousand by forty. One thousand divided by forty, divide it by forty. Forty thousand divided by forty. One thousand comes out exactly. If you want to know the amount of one-fourth of a tenth, divide what you have by forty, and the result of the division is one-fourth of a tenth. As for honey that is harvested, meaning a person has apiaries from which he harvests honey and sells it, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether zakah is obligatory on it or not. Some said that zakah is obligatory on it, and its amount is one-tenth. Others said that zakah is not obligatory on it because it is not from grains or fruits. However, the more cautious course is for a person to pay zakah on it.