A man has crops that he has not yet harvested, and then he sells them before harvesting. On whom is zakah obligatory in light of the verse (and give its due on the day of its harvest)? And how does he pay the zakah?

Al-Halabi : In a final question, my teacher, a man asked me by phone today. He said a person has crops, for example wheat, and he wanted to sell this wheat, but he has not harvested it; that is, he sold it so that the one who bought it would harvest it. So he says now he has money, so how is the zakah, and on whom is it?

The Shaykh : Of course, the zakah is on him, of course.
Al-Halabi : And how?

The Shaykh : Is there zakah on him in the first place? Because you know that the nisab for zakah on crops is five sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). How does he know?
Al-Halabi : I did not understand, my Shaykh. What do you mean?

The Shaykh : How does he know whether he owes zakah or not, since he has not harvested it?
Al-Halabi: From this perspective, is the intended meaning of harvesting that he harvests it himself, or is the intended meaning that if he sells it and someone else harvests it?

The Shaykh : No, the issue has taken a different turn. You know in the hadith five sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) means loads from camels.
Al-Halabi : Yes, O our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes, and here there are two madhhab (school of jurisprudence). This is the correct madhhab because of the existence of this hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim. The second madhhab is the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, which is that any crop for which charity is obligatory, such as wheat or barley, whether little or much, has zakah on it. Well, this is the weaker position, not the stronger position. The stronger position is if it is five sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). So how does this person who wants to ask know how to pay the zakah when he does not yet know if he owes zakah or not?
Al-Halabi : This is the reality of the question he did not raise.The questioner : But we benefited from your research.

The Shaykh : I know, and therefore I say that the method of knowing first whether he owes zakah or not is not realized until after the harvest. Then, after the harvest, it becomes clear. And of course, the farmers who plant know if this harvested amount yields, for example, five loads from camels. If it reaches that, the nisab is reached or becomes the nisab, so zakah becomes obligatory. If it does not reach that, he owes no zakah.
Al-Halabi : This, my Shaykh, is very great speech, but the brother's question is exactly that, assuming it reached five sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), but he does not own this, for he has sold it. He does not have it now. So does he pay money, for example, in place of this sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), assuming consideration, or what does he do since the crop is no longer his because he sold it before the harvest?

The Shaykh : This is understood. I just wanted to get from here to there. First, is it permissible for him to sell it without harvesting it? And how does he sell it when it is not harvested? Then, did he sell it after its quality was clear, or how?
Al-Halabi : Yes, at the time of harvest.

The Shaykh : At the time of harvest, yes. Well, if it is at the time of harvest, then at that time they must agree, meaning this is a mistake in any case, you must know it. So correcting the mistake, he must agree with the buyer that I am selling you on the basis of how many sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg)?
Al-Halabi : After the zakah?

The Shaykh : No, how many sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) the land will yield. And based on the sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), he knows what zakah comes out of it. And if he knows that zakah comes out of it, then at that time he must not sell all of it to the buyer, but only what is above what is obligatory on him from the zakah. For example, if a tenth comes out of it, he leaves this tenth and does not take its price from the buyer, and the rest is for the buyer to take its price. That is given in charity to the poor and the needy.
Al-Halabi : Completely clear. This is correcting the mistake. Well, now the mistake that happened and occurred?

The Shaykh : Since the case is like this, then he wants to estimate his estimate.
Al-Halabi : He estimates and spends?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Al-Halabi: May Allah bless you.

The questioner : It is not said that the zakah is on the one who bought it, and that one who took the money, he has nothing on him?

The Shaykh: No, no.

The questioner : Did the harvest become his? The wheat became his?

The Shaykh : No, no, I do not know.
Al-Halabi : My Shaykh, may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : And may Allah bless you.

The questioner : By Allah, we came, and each of us asks himself in his heart, and perhaps I will start with what Allah makes easy.