How are the rulings on *rikaz* (buried treasure) in the present age (regarding oil, minerals, and others)? And an explanation of the interpretation of *rikaz*

The questioner : We would like to hear your opinion regarding the topic of *rikaz*.

The Shaykh : Regarding the topic of what?

The questioner : *Rikaz*.

The Shaykh : *Rikaz*.

The questioner : Yes, regarding what is said that when a state has money or oil or wealth, this belongs to the general Muslim population except for a specific percentage. We would like your opinion on the applicability of this statement to the current era. Most of them do not apply Islam as a system of governance, and their people are also Muslim as individuals, but they are not Islamic states. Does the general ruling apply to this topic? What is the ruling in the current era?

The Shaykh : I think the previous research serves as an answer to such a question, because I do not find anything new in it except what relates to the interpretation of *rikaz*. I will undertake the interpretation of *rikaz*, but in what sense did the questioner raise *rikaz*? Perhaps there is something else I should speak about other than the interpretation of *rikaz*.

The questioner : Specifically, the wealth that is underground, meaning.

The Shaykh : In general, meaning.

The questioner : Yes. And specifically regarding oil, as it is the largest thing at the present time.

The Shaykh : The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And this is the last part of a hadith narrated by the two Shaykhs in their *Sahih*s from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And the important thing, by the nature of reality, is the discussion of this last paragraph, but I quoted the hadith in its entirety for two benefits. The first is a general benefit; perhaps some of the attendees are hearing this hadith for the first time, and it is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And the second benefit is that in the paragraph before the last, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , there is what helps us to the correct understanding of *rikaz*. The scholars differed in the interpretation of *rikaz* into two opinions. The first opinion, which is the correct one with no doubt, is that *rikaz* is the buried treasure of the *Jahiliyyah* (pre-Islamic age of ignorance). That is, *rikaz* is a treasure buried before Islam. As for the treasure buried after Islam, it is not *rikaz*. Consequently, the mineral that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created in the earth, no matter how precious it is—silver, gold, or platinum—this is not *rikaz*; this is a mineral. And therefore, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , if he had intended by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , he would have said: "And in it is the fifth." But he did not intend the second meaning, which is what Abu Hanifa and those who followed him say: that *rikaz* is the mineral buried by the creation of Allah in the earth. The scholars of jurisprudence, especially the Hijazis among them, and the linguists unanimously agreed that *rikaz* is the buried treasure of the *Jahiliyyah*. And on that basis, if a Muslim extracts or finds *rikaz*, the wise Lawgiver has made obligatory the fifth in it, just as He made obligatory the two and a half percent in zakah. It is not permissible, for this reason—I said that the answer to this question is taken from the previous research—it is not permissible for the ruler to take in zakah more than what Allah has prescribed. It is not permissible for him to take five percent instead of two and a half percent. It is not permissible for him to take, instead of forty sheep, twenty sheep, taking one head, and so on, because this is a change of the ruling of Allah. So when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , it is like his saying regarding silver: a quarter of a tenth; regarding crops irrigated by rain: a tenth; and regarding crops irrigated by watering: half a tenth. All these are limits that fall under the generality of His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): As for the minerals that are extracted through efforts undertaken by the worker, there is no zakah on them. Rather, if he has money and a lunar year has passed over it and it has reached the *nisab* (minimum threshold for zakah), then the rulings of zakah apply to it. If we know this detail, we return to the previous research on *maslahah mursalah* (public benefit). If there is aggression against the Muslims there and there is not enough in the Muslim treasury to repel it, we take, as we said earlier, from the wealthy Muslims what corresponds to their wealth. If we assume a man who has recently found *rikaz*, it is permissible for the ruler to take from him more than the fifth for this incidental matter. But if he makes it a general system and a continuous law, the research returns to the first and second sections of *maslahah mursalah*. This is my answer to this question, and perhaps it is sufficient?

The questioner : So oil does not fall under this?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : So oil does not fall under this except to this extent?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.