Is there zakah in oils, sugar, spices, and feed seeds? And what is its nisab?
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The questioner : May Allah forgive you. Is there zakah in oils, sugar, spices, and feed seeds? If so, what is the evidence for that, and what is its nisab?
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) disagreed regarding grains that are not eaten and do not serve as food: whether there is zakah in them or not. Some of them said that there is zakah in them due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:267].
And some of them said that zakah is not obligatory in them, and this is the closest view: that zakah is not obligatory except in food that is measured and stored. Accordingly, zakah is not obligatory in these seeds because they are not food that is stored. This is the stronger position, and the original state is the presumption of original permissibility until evidence establishes the obligation.
The questioner : What excluded the generality of what is brought out from the earth?
The Shaykh : It was excluded by the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 980.
And what is measured in the usual way is what is eaten and stored.
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) disagreed regarding grains that are not eaten and do not serve as food: whether there is zakah in them or not. Some of them said that there is zakah in them due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth
يا أيّها الذين آمنوا أنفقوا من طيّبات ما كسبتم وممّا أخرجنا لكم من الأرضAnd some of them said that zakah is not obligatory in them, and this is the closest view: that zakah is not obligatory except in food that is measured and stored. Accordingly, zakah is not obligatory in these seeds because they are not food that is stored. This is the stronger position, and the original state is the presumption of original permissibility until evidence establishes the obligation.
The questioner : What excluded the generality of what is brought out from the earth?
The Shaykh : It was excluded by the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
No Sadaqa is payable on less than five fiqiyas of silver, and on less than five heads of camels, and less than five wasqs of dates.
ليس فيما دون خمسة أوسقٍ من ثمر ولا حبّ صدقةAnd what is measured in the usual way is what is eaten and stored.