What is the authenticity of the report: "I used to sell leather and bags, so 'Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by me and said to me: Pay the charity of your wealth," from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)? And what is its jurisprudence?
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The Shaykh : Here is a question that saysThe questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Abu 'Ubayd, al-Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, and 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated from Abu 'Amr ibn Sammak, from his father, who said:
The question is one: Is this report authentic, and if it is authentic, what is the jurisprudence derived from it?
The answer to this question is that this report is not authentic in its chain of narration, and its defect lies with the narrator of this report from 'Umar directly, and from his son who narrated it from him, who is Abu 'Amr ibn Sammak. Both the son and the father are unknown; they are not known for trustworthiness, memorization, or precision. Therefore, this report is not established from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). And without a doubt, if it were established, it would indicate what many, indeed most, scholars hold regarding the obligation of zakah on trade goods, and that they must be appraised and zakah paid from them at two and a half percent, as is well known in the zakah of the two currencies. However, since that is not established from 'Umar, it is not permissible for us to derive a legal ruling from it, especially since Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad* with a chain better than this one what contradicts this report. Imam Ahmad narrated that a group of merchants brought horses from Sham to Madinah and then asked 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to take their charity from them. 'Umar said: meaning by them the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. He explicitly states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and after him Abu Bakr al-Siddiq did not take zakah on trade goods of this type, which are horses. And since the people at that time were not like the people of our day, the people at that time would press the Muslim rulers to take zakah from them, whereas people today devise schemes to evade the legal rulings to escape from zakah. That is what is called "legal stratagems". These merchants pressed 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to take zakah from them on those horses, and 'Umar insisted on his previous position. Then 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) intervened in the matter and said: Take it from them, O Commander of the Faithful, and it is a charity among charities, meaning it is not an obligatory zakah. So he took it from them, and their hearts were pleased.
This hadith indicates the opposite of what this report of 'Umar indicates, which is that zakah is not obligatory on trade goods. And from here we can understand something of the answer to the second question.
I used to sell leather and bags, so 'Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by me and said to me: Pay the charity of your wealth. I said: O Commander of the Faithful, it is only in the leather. He said: Appraise it and then pay its charity.
كنت أبيع الأدم والجعاب فمر بي عمر بن الخطاب فقال لي: أد صدقة مالك، فقلت: يا أمير المؤمنين إنما هو في الأدم ، قال: قومه ثم أخرج صدقتهThe question is one: Is this report authentic, and if it is authentic, what is the jurisprudence derived from it?
The answer to this question is that this report is not authentic in its chain of narration, and its defect lies with the narrator of this report from 'Umar directly, and from his son who narrated it from him, who is Abu 'Amr ibn Sammak. Both the son and the father are unknown; they are not known for trustworthiness, memorization, or precision. Therefore, this report is not established from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). And without a doubt, if it were established, it would indicate what many, indeed most, scholars hold regarding the obligation of zakah on trade goods, and that they must be appraised and zakah paid from them at two and a half percent, as is well known in the zakah of the two currencies. However, since that is not established from 'Umar, it is not permissible for us to derive a legal ruling from it, especially since Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad* with a chain better than this one what contradicts this report. Imam Ahmad narrated that a group of merchants brought horses from Sham to Madinah and then asked 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to take their charity from them. 'Umar said:
My two companions before me did not do that.
إنه لم يصنع ذلك صاحباي من قبليThis hadith indicates the opposite of what this report of 'Umar indicates, which is that zakah is not obligatory on trade goods. And from here we can understand something of the answer to the second question.