The issue of restricting zakah to the four categories?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : And so, regarding the hadith that specifies the eight categories of zakah in Sunan Abu Dawud
The Shaykh : Why do you say Dawud? Are you a non-Arab?
The questioner : No, I am an Arab.
The Shaykh : A non-Arab reads it as Dawud. You read the Qur'an: is it Dawud or Dawud?
The questioner : Dawud. May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. He specified it in the eight categories...
The Shaykh : Excuse me, what is specified?
The questioner : The categories of zakah, which are the fruits, wheat, barley, and the like. He mentioned them in a hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud that they are eight. Ibn Hazm, in al-Muhalla, made all the categories of zakah eight, only in that. And he did not transmit the 'illah (operative cause) in anything else. I do not know; Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) only transmitted the statements of Imam Ahmad and Imam Malik regarding the 'illah of the staple food and the like. So I do not know what is correct in this chapter?
The Shaykh : Do you have the hadith in front of you that mentions eight categories?
The questioner : I do not memorize it.
The Shaykh : Because what I have memorized is four, not eight, as came in the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he sent him to Yemen, said So what are these other four of the eight?
The questioner : I do not remember them.
The Shaykh : I have no knowledge of them.
The questioner : I mean the text of the hadith, is it only these four?
The Shaykh : Yes, the zakah that is restricted by a nisab (minimum threshold), and regarding grains which are the nisab, yes, this zakah is restricted to these four. For example, it is by consensus or near-consensus that there is no zakah on vegetables. But for example, today you know that some fields are planted with vegetables and produce what Allah wills of prices, amazing things. We cannot observe that there is zakah on them because of the benefit the owner of the field gains, so we do not say, as some of the contemporary scholars say today, based on the principle "the end justifies the means" and satisfying the poor at the expense of the rich. We do not say this logic, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is more merciful to His servants than all people. So when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) makes something obligatory, we do not exceed it unless there are restricted things, in which case we restrict ourselves to them, as we said earlier, and absolute things, in which case we make them absolute. The owner of the vegetable field does not have zakah on it, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. But when he feels that Allah has blessed him with much and abundant wealth, he should give zakah absolutely from this wealth, especially if it is the time of harvest, he should give something without a specific determination, because there is no determination. And so we say regarding many of the fruit-bearing trees, like apples, apricots, and the like. These do not have a specific zakah, but this is an absolute zakah that their owners must purify themselves by giving their zakah. This is what I say on this occasion.
The Shaykh : Why do you say Dawud? Are you a non-Arab?
The questioner : No, I am an Arab.
The Shaykh : A non-Arab reads it as Dawud. You read the Qur'an: is it Dawud or Dawud?
The questioner : Dawud. May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. He specified it in the eight categories...
The Shaykh : Excuse me, what is specified?
The questioner : The categories of zakah, which are the fruits, wheat, barley, and the like. He mentioned them in a hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud that they are eight. Ibn Hazm, in al-Muhalla, made all the categories of zakah eight, only in that. And he did not transmit the 'illah (operative cause) in anything else. I do not know; Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) only transmitted the statements of Imam Ahmad and Imam Malik regarding the 'illah of the staple food and the like. So I do not know what is correct in this chapter?
The Shaykh : Do you have the hadith in front of you that mentions eight categories?
The questioner : I do not memorize it.
The Shaykh : Because what I have memorized is four, not eight, as came in the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he sent him to Yemen, said
Do not take charity except from these four: wheat, barley, dates, and raisins.
لا تأخذ الصدقة إلا من هذه الأربعة القمح والشعير والتمر والزبيبThe questioner : I do not remember them.
The Shaykh : I have no knowledge of them.
The questioner : I mean the text of the hadith, is it only these four?
The Shaykh : Yes, the zakah that is restricted by a nisab (minimum threshold), and regarding grains which are the nisab, yes, this zakah is restricted to these four. For example, it is by consensus or near-consensus that there is no zakah on vegetables. But for example, today you know that some fields are planted with vegetables and produce what Allah wills of prices, amazing things. We cannot observe that there is zakah on them because of the benefit the owner of the field gains, so we do not say, as some of the contemporary scholars say today, based on the principle "the end justifies the means" and satisfying the poor at the expense of the rich. We do not say this logic, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is more merciful to His servants than all people. So when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) makes something obligatory, we do not exceed it unless there are restricted things, in which case we restrict ourselves to them, as we said earlier, and absolute things, in which case we make them absolute. The owner of the vegetable field does not have zakah on it, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. But when he feels that Allah has blessed him with much and abundant wealth, he should give zakah absolutely from this wealth, especially if it is the time of harvest, he should give something without a specific determination, because there is no determination. And so we say regarding many of the fruit-bearing trees, like apples, apricots, and the like. These do not have a specific zakah, but this is an absolute zakah that their owners must purify themselves by giving their zakah. This is what I say on this occasion.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.