What is the amount of zakah that a merchant must pay?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. Since we said that it is obligatory for him to pay based on the generality of the evidence, we did not restrict it, because nothing has come in the Shari'ah to restrict this rate. We referred it to the person's own conscience and his taqwa (mindfulness of Allah), and to the generality of the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): Now, is it not the case that if a man came to us and said, "There is confusion in this fatwa because people do not know how much to pay, and people's circumstances differ. A merchant may be ignorant and not know," can we determine a specific amount with a minimum and a maximum?

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. No, we cannot. But this argument is a refuted one, because there may be merchants who have never heard that zakah is obligatory on trade goods. Is that an excuse for him? No. And so Allah the Exalted said: And recently we said that there are individual obligations and collective obligations, and that every person of legal age must know certain individual matters, such as prayer and its conditions. But if he is poor, he is not required to know the rulings of zakah, nor is he required to know the rituals of Hajj. However, once he becomes wealthy, he is required to know the details of the rulings of zakah. So, if this wealthy person with trade goods does not know the rate, this is what Allah intended, as He did not inform us: As He said in the Qur'an. Therefore, he must know that he is required to pay what his soul is pleased to give. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known authentic hadith: And here, without a doubt, this is a profound divine wisdom. When our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) left this unrestricted, He intended to test these people. And as we know, many of the rulings are unrestricted and left to the person of legal age. The unrestricted nature may be from one side, while the restriction may be from another side that differs. For example: the fixed zakahs with specific thresholds and quantities are found in the Shari'ah in two categories:
One category is what the collector sent by the Muslim ruler comes to the wealthy person and takes that zakah from him against his will, and that is the zakah on livestock and the zakah on fruits. The other category is left entirely to the wealthy person himself, such as the zakah on money. Now, someone might say: Perhaps this wealthy person, whom the Wise Lawgiver did not obligate the Muslim ruler to send to him to count his wealth and take two and a half percent from him, perhaps this wealthy person does not fulfill this obligation. Is this a question that comes from a Muslim? The answer is no. Why? Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has established a profound wisdom in everything He legislated, which those who know it know it, and those who are ignorant of it are ignorant of it. So if we ask: What is the wisdom in Allah (Mighty and Majestic) making a portion of these obligations on the wealth of the wealthy be taken by a collector? And here you know, in rulings concerning collectors, he does not take the best of it, nor does he take the worst of it, so we returned to the middle path that I mentioned. What is the wisdom in Allah legislating, through His Prophet, that this type of zakah is collected by employees who have a known threshold in zakahs? While He made the zakah on money the responsibility of the wealthy person himself, so he may pay it or he may not, as is observed today. Many of the wealthy do not pay the zakah of their wealth, but rather spend multiples of it, multiples of it, in what is not appropriate, or in what is not permissible, or in what is forbidden.
The wisdom is very clear, because the Lord of the Worlds did not intend for every ruling to be carried out by the Muslim against his will, but He wants him to purify himself with his own hand. And so it was of profound wisdom that He made the zakah on money be paid voluntarily from his own soul, while the other zakah is taken from him against his will. So this serves as an answer to what you asked, meaning he should fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and we have no way to impose on him from our own side, whether we are the rulers or the scholars. It is not for us to impose on him what the Lord of the Worlds has not imposed. And this is of that type. So you pay the zakah on money with a willing heart, and you must know what is obligatory on you. Likewise, the matter of trade goods is complete. So this Muslim weighs and it is said to him, "It is not equal for the one who has ten thousand to the one who has one hundred thousand to the one who has millions. So fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic)." And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and I believe this is its place in such a matter: .

The questioner : Now, Shaykh, the hadith of Abu Dawud from Samurah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: .

The Shaykh : Yes, this hadith is from the weak narrations of Abu Dawud, and there is obscurity in its chain. So it does not serve as a proof. And without a doubt, the practical Sunnah is that the wealthy did not pay the zakah of their wealth with this detail that was explained earlier. So the hadith, with the weakness of its chain, contradicts the practical Sunnah upon which our righteous predecessors acted. And recently we mentioned what Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad and others in other works. Yes.

The questioner : Now, and 'Umar said to Humas, I don't know the exact spelling, is it Himas or Hummas or Hammass.

The Shaykh : Hummas.

The questioner : Hummas: "Pay the zakah of your wealth." He said: "I have nothing but jars and skins." He said: "Value them and pay their zakah."

The Shaykh : It is the same 'illah (operative cause).

The questioner : Like it?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Now, and al-Majd said: "It is ijma' (scholarly consensus)."

The Shaykh : And he said?

The questioner : Al-Majd.

The Shaykh : Al-Majd, he said: Al-Majd, yes.

The questioner : And al-Majd said: "It is ijma' (scholarly consensus)," meaning the payment of zakah in trade goods. And you said at the beginning that we do not know of an ijma' (scholarly consensus).

The Shaykh : No, there is no ijma' (scholarly consensus). This is clear from the book al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm, and from what I mentioned earlier about 'Umar ibn al-Khattab regarding the horses for which they asked him to take zakah, and he said: "I did not do what my two companions before me did." Then 'Ali said: "Take it as a sadaqah (voluntary charity) from the charities." Yes.

The questioner : To complete the topic regarding the manner of payment, even if it is not related to the zakah on trade goods. For us as employees in the government or similar, or in companies, we receive monthly salaries, and we praise Allah (Mighty and Majestic), our salaries are the nisab (minimum threshold), they are the nisab (minimum threshold).

The Shaykh : Fine.

The questioner : How to pay this zakah on the salaries?

The Shaykh : When the hawl (lunar year of possession) has passed.

The questioner : On each independent salary.

The Shaykh : No, the answer to this has been given previously.

The questioner : Meaning on the same method as the merchant that you preferred?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you as well,