Is it obligatory to pay zakah on trade goods?

The questioner : The second is the zakah on trade goods. Our evidence for it not being obligatory is that Abu Abd al-'Anid says that most people's wealth is in trade goods. Do you find this to be a cash matter for you? That you have suspended the zakah?

The Shaykh : Yes, we suspended the zakah that is in his head, but we did not suspend the zakah that is in the book of his Lord, and that is the important point.

The questioner : Well, I heard that the four Imams say that trade goods are subject to zakah.

The Shaykh : Have you finished with al-'Anid?

The questioner : It is not the same topic.

The Shaykh : It is not the same topic. Have you finished with al-'Anid?

The questioner : No, I have not finished.

The Shaykh : So what is the same topic?

The questioner : I mean, perhaps he argues against us by saying that the Imams say that zakah on trade goods is obligatory.

The Shaykh : Have you finished with al-'Anid? And the answer to him, when you quoted him saying we suspended it, is that you did not finish. You did not mention that I raised this question to him and answered it there in some of the gatherings.

The questioner : Yes, I answered that there is a zakah that is imposed but not limited.

The Shaykh : You deviated from me.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : You deviated from me. From the verb "to deviate," to deviate. I am asking you: do you remember that this question was raised in some gatherings between us and him, and I answered it?

The questioner : I do not remember.

The Shaykh : Leave me alone, may Allah reward you with good. Our answer, when we say that there is no zakah on trade goods, is first that we follow the Shari'ah, and second, it is more beneficial for the poor, contrary to what al-'Anid thinks. And I fear that this title does not match reality. Ask whom you wish from the scholars of economics, or those who have no knowledge of economics but have intellect. There are two rich men, each with a million dinars. The difference between them is that one keeps the million in an iron safe and he applies the obligatory zakah at the rate of two and a half percent. The other does not keep even a thousand dinars in his safe. What did he do with it? He put it in the market, bought goods, employed people, started a company, and so on. Which of the two millionaires is more beneficial for the poor, the needy, and the Muslims, in your opinion?

The questioner : If it is more beneficial, I want to know how it is more beneficial.

The Shaykh : I mean, you have no answer?

The questioner : I have no answer.

The Shaykh : Do you not realize that when money is put out, it creates movement in society?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Money brings money.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Well, is this not more beneficial than the one who comes out with the two and a half percent and gives it to the poor, with his hand above and the poor man's hand below?

The questioner : It is more beneficial that he employs them.

The Shaykh : That is it. And so, I am saying, and I hope you note, I am not saying that the Lord of the Worlds says to His believing servants: "Do not hoard gold and silver, but employ it. Put it in the market. If you do so and hoard it, then upon you is an obligation at the rate of two and a half percent." So we did not suspend the zakah; we developed it, but in a way that one who has no knowledge does not know. I have made the answer clear to you, so perhaps you will improve your transmission, if Allah wills, and tell him that al-Albani—and I do not sayThe Shaykh : al-Albani, so that people do not say, "It is true, he has become a Shaykh, but I am still young."

The Shaykh : And the audience laughed.
I tell him, "Just greet him and remind him that this question was previously answered to you, and he told you that first, a Muslim does not occupy his mind, but he understands his religion. What does his religion say? He must be in the position as Allah the Exalted said: If he were in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and was one of the noble Companions, and was among those sent to Yemen, like Mu'adh ibn Jabal, he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): The stubborn one makes his weapon the stubbornness, and he says, "Why, O Messenger of Allah? There is a grain there, and so on and so on of the things we know." The answer would be: And here we mention some of the statements that reached us from the Salaf, the most famous of which is: If the religion were by opinion, and from Abu Hanifah it is reported: "If the religion were by opinion, I would say that ghusl is obligatory from urine and that wudu' is sufficient from semen." Why? Because urine is impure by consensus, and there is disagreement regarding semen, some saying it is pure and some saying it is impure. So it is better to give the heavier, stricter ruling to the thing whose impurity is agreed upon. But no, the religion is not by opinion. The text came that semen requires ghusl and urine requires wudu'. And I think you recently reminded me of an example, which I think is suitable for the topic. What was it?

The questioner : That the prayer is performed over the man at his head...

The Shaykh : Today we prayed over a person in Abu Malik's mosque after the midday prayer, from the house of 'Abidin, Abu her, for 'A'idah, Umm Muhammad. Perhaps you can hear about it. The important thing is, the wife of Abu Muhammad opened a discussion about where the imam who prays over the deceased should stand while he is in the coffin. The Sunnah is that if the deceased is a man, the imam stands in front of his chest, and if it is a woman, in front of her middle. Our friend said, "There is a note here: if the religion were by opinion, the ruling would have to be reversed. Why does the imam face the middle of the woman, where there is what you know, and the man at the chest? It would be more reasonable for the woman to be at the chest." But no, the religion is not by opinion. Rather, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was witnessed by the noble Companions that if the deceased is a man, he stands in front of his chest or behind his chest, and for a woman, in front of her middle. So we must accustom ourselves to leaving off opinion, as is the methodology of the scholars of the Muslims in their entirety, who said, "When the athar comes, the reasoning is void, and when the river of Allah comes, the river of Ma'qil is void." Bring us something else, what do you have?
Al-Halabi : Also the story of A'ishah when the woman came to her and said to her, "What is the matter with us?" Yes, this is also suitable.

The Shaykh : Prayer and fasting, it is the same.

The questioner : Regarding the four Imams, yes, they issue fatwas that zakah on trade goods is obligatory.

The Shaykh : They issue fatwas on what?

The questioner : They issue fatwas that the wealth is assessed and zakah is paid on trade goods.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.

The questioner : Well, what is their evidence?

The Shaykh : Is it true that the four Imams issue fatwas that if a man rides his mule, his foolishness, and says to his wife, "You are divorced three times," that she is divorced from him with a major divorce and she is not lawful to him thereafter until she marries another husband, or not?

The questioner : They issue fatwas on this.

The Shaykh : What is their evidence? So you, and al-'Anid, and anyone other than al-'Anid...

The questioner : I want to answer them.

The Shaykh : He wants you not to be able to answer him, because we are going to give you a lecture now on both issues, and I do not think you will be able to record it now on a tape and transmit it faithfully to this stubborn one, even if his name were not "stubborn."

The questioner : Even he brought it up in a place of criticism of the story, in the house of one of the friends, and said that Amin, his Shaykh, canceled the Hajj so that morals would improve. And after he finished with the topic and attacked Amin, his Shaykh, he turned to me and said, "These things, I do not say there is no zakah, but also that you, that one, canceled the zakah."

The Shaykh : Canceled the zakah.

The questioner : I said, "I canceled the zakah."

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : I was angry with him at that moment, but there was no room, and he is hot-tempered and does not discuss...

The Shaykh : I mean, the name fits the reality.

The questioner : Yes, he does not discuss at all. Look, if he makes a mistake, I am not able to discuss it with him. Regarding Khomeini and Iran, there are people who say he is a Shi'ite, and he said to me, "I am confident in the Ja'fari school." And he says, "No, no, Islam will not rise except through the Shi'ah. The Shi'ah are united, the people of the Sunnah are divided. So the Shi'ah now, we rely on them to succeed in Islam."

The Shaykh You just convey to him the following word after the greeting, tell him thatThe Shaykh : Nasser parted from you on the basis that you have no enemy except him, so now he says to me, "Why don't you eat his meat?" And that is all. Others.