Are precious metals other than gold and silver subject to obligatory zakah? Or is the zakah on jewelry limited only to gold and silver?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Are precious metals other than gold and silver subject to obligatory zakah? Or is the zakah on jewelry limited only to gold and silver?
The Shaykh : Yes, the ruling is limited to the two currencies (gold and silver). As for other metals, it is not obligatory for women except according to the detailed discussion, or the well-known disagreement among scholars regarding the obligation of zakah on goods for trade. As for them as metals, there is no zakah on them because no text has come regarding that. Everything a person acquires to trade with, and not for personal use or for his home.
This which you referred to, that there is disagreement in the issue, and when it is asked, "Is there zakah on goods for trade?" the zakah intended here is the quantified zakah which, first, requires reaching the nisab (minimum threshold), and that a lunar year has passed over it. This type of zakah is what scholars have disagreed about since ancient times regarding goods for trade. Some say it is obligatory, and some do not say it is obligatory. And I return to clarify and say: What obligation to appraise these goods from trade every year, estimating them by their current value, and if they reach the nisab, to give from them as is given from the two currencies, two and a half percent? This type of zakah has not come in the Sunnah, let alone the Book, to confirm its obligation. But there is an absolute zakah that every person who finds abundance in his wealth in his trade goods must give, not a specific amount, and it is not required that a lunar year passes over it, implementing many general texts that came in the Book and the Sunnah, such as His saying - the Exalted - :[Al-Baqarah 2:254], so these types of goods for trade are undoubtedly from what Allah - Mighty and Majestic - has provided His servants; so out of gratitude for this provision, they should give what their souls are pleased with. As for the previous detail, appraising these goods and giving two and a half percent; this is what has not come in the authentic Sunnah. I say in the authentic Sunnah; because there are some narrations in "Sunan Abu Dawud" and elsewhere that indicate, if authentic, the obligation of zakah on goods for trade.
Yes.
The questioner : The same question, if these narrations in "Sunan Abu Dawud" were authentic, but the amount - meaning if zakah became obligatory - where do we get the evidence for the amount?
The Shaykh : What is it? If this were authentic, there is a command to appraise in it. The command to appraise indicates the implication. Why appraise? To know if it reached the nisab or not? Then comes after that what they consider as the condition of the passage of the lunar year.
The questioner : But the amount... is there evidence for it, even if it is weak?
The Shaykh : No, there is no explicit evidence for it, but they infer it from the appraisal mentioned in the narration.
The Shaykh : Yes, the ruling is limited to the two currencies (gold and silver). As for other metals, it is not obligatory for women except according to the detailed discussion, or the well-known disagreement among scholars regarding the obligation of zakah on goods for trade. As for them as metals, there is no zakah on them because no text has come regarding that. Everything a person acquires to trade with, and not for personal use or for his home.
This which you referred to, that there is disagreement in the issue, and when it is asked, "Is there zakah on goods for trade?" the zakah intended here is the quantified zakah which, first, requires reaching the nisab (minimum threshold), and that a lunar year has passed over it. This type of zakah is what scholars have disagreed about since ancient times regarding goods for trade. Some say it is obligatory, and some do not say it is obligatory. And I return to clarify and say: What obligation to appraise these goods from trade every year, estimating them by their current value, and if they reach the nisab, to give from them as is given from the two currencies, two and a half percent? This type of zakah has not come in the Sunnah, let alone the Book, to confirm its obligation. But there is an absolute zakah that every person who finds abundance in his wealth in his trade goods must give, not a specific amount, and it is not required that a lunar year passes over it, implementing many general texts that came in the Book and the Sunnah, such as His saying - the Exalted - :
O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you
يا أيها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا مما رزقناكمYes.
The questioner : The same question, if these narrations in "Sunan Abu Dawud" were authentic, but the amount - meaning if zakah became obligatory - where do we get the evidence for the amount?
The Shaykh : What is it? If this were authentic, there is a command to appraise in it. The command to appraise indicates the implication. Why appraise? To know if it reached the nisab or not? Then comes after that what they consider as the condition of the passage of the lunar year.
The questioner : But the amount... is there evidence for it, even if it is weak?
The Shaykh : No, there is no explicit evidence for it, but they infer it from the appraisal mentioned in the narration.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.