Friday sermon by the Shaykh on the rulings of zakah.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He leaves to mislead, none can guide. His is [the sovereignty], and I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Allah the Exalted sent him to the jinn and mankind as a bringer of good news and a warner. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, and advised the community, and Allah perfected the favor for the believers through him. May the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: O people, fear Allah the Exalted and remember that Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, possessing neither benefit nor harm for yourselves. Then Allah made easy for you sustenance that you did not expect. So stand, O Muslims, in gratitude for this blessing, and pay what Allah has made obligatory upon you in it, so that you may clear your necks, purify your wealth, and perfect your character. Beware of stinginess and miserliness with what Allah has made obligatory upon you, for that is your destruction and the removal of blessing from your wealth. O Muslims, all Muslims know that the religion of Islam is built upon five pillars: the testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the establishment of prayer, the giving of zakah, the fasting of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to the House of Allah the Exalted. Zakah is the third pillar of Islam, and it is the companion of prayer in the clear Qur'an. A severe warning has come regarding withholding it and being miserly with it. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained the meaning of this verse: The shuja' is the large snake, and al-qur' is the one that has no hair on its head, and that is because of the abundance of its venom, refuge with Allah. And regarding this shuja', the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Muslims, the two zaybiyat are two glands full of venom so that its pain is severe for its owner. This is physical pain. As for the spiritual pain, it says to him, "I am your wealth, I am your treasure," meaning that he treasured it in this world, but he is tormented by it in the Hereafter. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said in its interpretation: Narrated by Muslim. O Muslims, this severe warning is for those who were miserly with what Allah gave them of His bounty. This obliges the believing person to flee from miserliness as he flees from a lion. O Muslims, it is not of your wealth except what you have brought forward; as for what you have delayed, it is for others. So fear Allah, O servants of Allah, and pay what Allah has made obligatory upon you in these wealths so that there will not be regret upon you on the Day of Resurrection. And know that zakah is obligatory in gold and silver, in whatever state they are, whether they are pounds or riyals, or pieces of gold and silver, or jewelry of gold and silver, for wearing or for selling or for renting. The texts of the Book and the Sunnah came with the obligation of zakah in them generally, without detail. And texts from the Sunnah came specifically regarding the obligation of zakah in jewelry. From 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with them both) Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in *Bulugh al-Maram*: It was narrated by the three, and its chain is strong, and it has corroborating narrations as well. But zakah is not obligatory in gold and silver until it reaches the nisab. The nisab of gold is twenty mithqals, that is, eighty-five grams. What is less than that has no zakah in it, except if it is for trade. And the nisab of silver is the weight of fifty-six Saudi riyals of silver. What is less than that has no zakah in it. As for the amount of zakah in gold and silver, it is one-quarter of a tenth. That is by dividing what you have by forty, and what comes out of the division is the zakah. Zakah is also obligatory in paper currency if it reaches the equivalent of fifty-six Saudi riyals of silver, and in it is one-quarter of a tenth. Zakah is obligatory in debts that a person has from people if they are of gold and silver, or paper currency, and they reach the nisab by themselves or by adding them to what he has of their kind, whether they are due immediately or deferred. He zakahs them every year if they are from a solvent person. But if he wishes, he may pay their zakah before receiving them with his wealth, or he may wait until he receives them and then zakah them for all that has passed. As for if the debts are from a poor person, there is no zakah on the one who is owed until he receives them. When he receives them, he zakahs them once for all that has passed. Zakah is obligatory in trade goods, which is everything a person prepares for earning, such as real estate, foundations, livestock, cars, foods, fabrics, equipment, or otherwise. Zakah is obligatory in them if he trades with them, and it is one-quarter of a tenth of their value. If he wants to zakah them, he counts what he has of much and little that reaches the nisab, either by itself or by adding it to what he has of currency.