Is zakah obligatory on one who is forced to pay half of his agricultural harvest to a government association?
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Al-Huwaini: All right, my Shaykh, we have in Egypt ...
The Shaykh: ... Yes.
Al-Huwaini: Regarding the rice harvest, the feddan in our area produces about two thousand kilograms, two tons.
The Shaykh: Two thousand?
Al-Huwaini: Two tons means two thousand kilograms. The agricultural association forces the farmer to deliver, for example, one and a half tons at a low or cheap price. So, if a feddan produces two tons, he gives the association one and a half tons and is left with half a ton for himself and his children to eat. How do they pay zakah, since the association gives, for example, two hundred pounds per ton?
The Shaykh: First of all, we need to understand: is this association a government one?
Al-Huwaini: Yes, it is a government one. And it imposes this delivery on him, or else they will imprison him. To the extent that sometimes the feddan may not yield a crop, so he is forced to buy rice from the black market at double the price and deliver it to the association at half the price, resulting in a loss. Then, how does he and his children live afterwards? They are asking about the zakah on what the association takes. Do we pay zakah on the money we receive, because there is no rice left after the association takes it, but they receive money in exchange for this rice, so they pay? These people give the association the rice. Do they pay zakah on the cash value they received and the remaining half ton for their livelihood? Do they pay zakah on it?
The Shaykh: It is not hidden from you that the legal ruling is that whatever the earth produces in the form of grain, if it is gathered and reaches the nisab of five wasqs, one must pay either one-tenth or half of one-tenth of the total yield of this crop. So now we ask: suppose, as you gave as an example just now, that so-and-so's land produced two tons, and as we understood from you, he is forced to present to the state—and we do not say "association" now so that the matter is not confused—present to the state one and a half tons. If the land, as you understood, produced only one ton, he is forced, as you said, to present one and a half tons. This is the very essence of injustice. Is this the reality?
Al-Huwaini: Yes, this is the reality.
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar. In that case, we say: the one whose land produced two tons, and the state will take from him one and a half tons at half the value. What I see, and Allah knows best, in this issue is: half the value means that he is left with one and a quarter tons, correct?
Al-Huwaini: Half the value, yes.
The Shaykh: Meaning, they are as if they left him with one and a quarter tons, because they gave him the value, correct?
Al-Huwaini: Yes.
The Shaykh: And they left him with half a ton of grain. So what is the total? One and a quarter tons. Therefore, he is obligated to pay zakah on this one and a quarter tons.
Al-Huwaini: No, does he pay the zakah on the value in cash and on the half ton of rice?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: ... Yes.
Al-Huwaini: Regarding the rice harvest, the feddan in our area produces about two thousand kilograms, two tons.
The Shaykh: Two thousand?
Al-Huwaini: Two tons means two thousand kilograms. The agricultural association forces the farmer to deliver, for example, one and a half tons at a low or cheap price. So, if a feddan produces two tons, he gives the association one and a half tons and is left with half a ton for himself and his children to eat. How do they pay zakah, since the association gives, for example, two hundred pounds per ton?
The Shaykh: First of all, we need to understand: is this association a government one?
Al-Huwaini: Yes, it is a government one. And it imposes this delivery on him, or else they will imprison him. To the extent that sometimes the feddan may not yield a crop, so he is forced to buy rice from the black market at double the price and deliver it to the association at half the price, resulting in a loss. Then, how does he and his children live afterwards? They are asking about the zakah on what the association takes. Do we pay zakah on the money we receive, because there is no rice left after the association takes it, but they receive money in exchange for this rice, so they pay? These people give the association the rice. Do they pay zakah on the cash value they received and the remaining half ton for their livelihood? Do they pay zakah on it?
The Shaykh: It is not hidden from you that the legal ruling is that whatever the earth produces in the form of grain, if it is gathered and reaches the nisab of five wasqs, one must pay either one-tenth or half of one-tenth of the total yield of this crop. So now we ask: suppose, as you gave as an example just now, that so-and-so's land produced two tons, and as we understood from you, he is forced to present to the state—and we do not say "association" now so that the matter is not confused—present to the state one and a half tons. If the land, as you understood, produced only one ton, he is forced, as you said, to present one and a half tons. This is the very essence of injustice. Is this the reality?
Al-Huwaini: Yes, this is the reality.
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar. In that case, we say: the one whose land produced two tons, and the state will take from him one and a half tons at half the value. What I see, and Allah knows best, in this issue is: half the value means that he is left with one and a quarter tons, correct?
Al-Huwaini: Half the value, yes.
The Shaykh: Meaning, they are as if they left him with one and a quarter tons, because they gave him the value, correct?
Al-Huwaini: Yes.
The Shaykh: And they left him with half a ton of grain. So what is the total? One and a quarter tons. Therefore, he is obligated to pay zakah on this one and a quarter tons.
Al-Huwaini: No, does he pay the zakah on the value in cash and on the half ton of rice?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.