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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Review of the Chapter on the Zakah of the Two Currencies.

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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. "The Chapter on the Zakah of the Two Currencies" The two currencies are the monetary standards of gold and silver, and they are called that because they are weighed when buying and selling.
The poet said: "Her hands sweep away the pebbles in every scorching heat, *** sweeping away the dirhams, the camels are weighed" He is praising his she-camel, saying: "Her hands sweep away the pebbles in every scorching heat" The scorching heat is the intense heat of the day. "Sweeping away the dirhams, the camels are weighed" Meaning that they weigh them quickly. So the two currencies are the monetary standards of gold and silver; the gold is called dinars and the silver is called dirhams. He says: "It is obligatory in gold and silver when it reaches twenty mithqals, and in silver when it reaches two hundred dirhams, a quarter of a tenth" A quarter of this, he says, is the subject of "obligatory," and a quarter of a tenth is one out of forty. Based on this, if you want to know the zakah of gold and silver, divide what you have by forty, and whatever comes out of the division is the zakah. And his saying "when it reaches two hundred dirhams."
The author clarified that gold is twenty mithqals. So what is the ratio of silver in mithqals? We say that every ten dirhams are seven mithqals. Based on this, two hundred dirhams become one hundred and forty mithqals, is that not so? One hundred and forty mithqals, multiply them by four and a quarter grams, and you reach five hundred and eighty-five grams. Good.
He says, we now read the explanation. The subject of "obligatory," and his saying "a quarter" means that a quarter of a tenth is obligatory, which is one out of forty. The benefit of knowing that a quarter of a tenth is one out of forty is to facilitate extracting the zakah from the two currencies, because if you want to extract it from the two currencies, divide what you have by forty, and whatever comes out of the division is the zakah.
So, for example, you have forty million. I have a mistake in the copy. You have, for example, forty million. What is its zakah? The answer is one million, one million and one...
You get it by dividing forty by one. Forty contains one, there is no need to see, one million... So the way to extract the zakah is this. But I say, in gold, when it reaches twenty mithqals, due to the hadith of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If you have gold or dinars and it reaches twenty dinars, then in it is half a dinar. إذا كان عندك ذهب أو دنانير فبلغ عشرين دينارا ففيها نصف دينار
And the Islamic dinar weighs one mithqal, and every ten Islamic dirhams are seven mithqals. We have clarified this, and it reached eighty-five grams of pure gold. If there is in it what?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : If there is a slight mixture, it is secondary and does not harm; the zakah is obligatory in it. And if there is a small amount of something other than gold, because gold must have something of the metals added to it to strengthen and harden it, otherwise it would be soft and malleable. But in order to harden it, they add to it something of the metals. But this addition, the scholars say, is slight and constant, so it is secondary, slight and constant. And if you wish, if we deleted these two lines, all of this has no need, you see, it is repetition. And this is a defect of pure transcription from the tapes. The tapes, meaning the lesson, the teacher repeats. And so if the one transcribing had insight, the repeated thing would be deleted, and this would be good, meaning, but in order to harden it... we mentioned it... but in order to harden it, they add to it something of the metals. But this addition, the scholars say, is slight and secondary, so it is like salt in food, it does not harm. Good.
This above is sufficient for it. Good. "And in silver, when it reaches two hundred dirhams, a quarter of a tenth of them" The author (may Allah have mercy on him) considered gold by weight and considered silver by number. Is this intended or not intended? The majority of scholars are of the opinion that this is not intended, but it is a variation of expression...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : The author, the author of the text, says: It is obligatory in gold when it reaches twenty mithqals, and in silver when it reaches two hundred dirhams. Do you understand?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : The author said: It is obligatory in gold when it reaches.

The questioner : Twenty mithqals.

The Shaykh : Good, and silver?

The questioner : Two hundred dirhams.

The Shaykh : Did he consider gold?

The questioner : By weight.

The Shaykh : And silver?

The questioner : By number.

The Shaykh : This is it. So is this intended? Meaning that we consider weight for gold and number for silver? The answer is that the majority of scholars are of the opinion that this is not intended, but it is a variation of expression, and that the intended meaning of two hundred dirhams is five awqiyah of silver, meaning the consideration is by weight. And that if a person owns one hundred and forty mithqals of silver, which reaches five hundred and eighty-five grams, then there is zakah in it, whether it reaches two hundred dirhams or not. And this is what most of the people of knowledge are upon, citing the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
No Sadaqah is due on less than five Awaq. ليس فيما دون خمس أواق صدقة
Sunan an-Nasa'i 2486Sahih (Darussalam)
So did he consider silver by what? The answer is by weight. And he said, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The consideration is by number, due to the hadith of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote in what he wrote regarding alms:
And in silver, if it reaches two hundred dirhams, a quarter of a tenth. If it is not but one hundred and ninety, then there is no charity in it except that its Lord wills. وفي الرّقة إذا بلغت مائتي درهم ربع العشر فإن لم يكن إلا تسعون ومائة فليس فيها صدقة إلا أن يشاء ربها
And the way of deriving the argument from this hadith in his view is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) determined it by number. And in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the dirhams were not uniform in weight, but some dirhams were heavier than others. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) determined it by number despite their difference in weight, so that indicates that it is the considered thing, that it is what?

The questioner : The number.

The Shaykh : The number.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : And he?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : We corrected it, we corrected it before. So that indicates that it is the considered thing, because the dirhams were not unified except in the time of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, who unified them at this amount, meaning that every ten dirhams are seven mithqals. Based on the saying of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him), if it were one hundred dirhams, meaning the two hundred, if it were one hundred dirhams, yes? Good, cross out "if it were" and "of the two," meaning the two hundred, if it were, if it were one hundred dirhams, one hundred mithqals only, then there is zakah in it. And according to the opinion of the one who considers weight, there is no zakah in it. One hundred and thirty mithqals, but it is two hundred in number of dirhams, so there is zakah in it according to the Shaykh, and there is no zakah in it according to the majority. And based on this, we say: Is it more cautious to consider the number, or is it more cautious to consider the weight? The answer is neither weight nor number, because if the dirhams are heavy in weight, then considering the weight is more cautious.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : If the dirhams are heavy in weight.

The questioner : Then considering the number.

The Shaykh : No, then considering the number. And we mentioned it, I think, at the end, because if the dirhams are heavy in weight, yes, then considering the number is more cautious.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Good, it does not contradict. If they are heavy, then the one hundred and forty mithqals must be less than the two hundred, is that not so? If they are heavy, it is possible that five dirhams are one hundred and forty mithqals.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, then considering the number is more cautious...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Weight?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : More cautious for whom? It does not contradict. The difference may be between, more cautious for whom?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : More cautious for the poor, correct. Considering the weight is more cautious for the poor. But regarding obligating the zakah on this man without evidence, wait, do not rush, let us discuss the issue. Obligating the zakah on this man without making sure that he reached the nisab... yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Because the truth is, is the more cautious the stricter, or the one that follows the Sunnah? Good, I agree with you that if you want it to be more cautious for the poor, yes, then the correct thing in the original is that considering the weight is more cautious, because he may say it reaches five awqiyah, five dirhams, it is possible that every dirham becomes an awqiyah, correct? And according to the opinion of the Shaykh, we are left with one hundred and eighty-five, we leave it... as it is. And I renounce my opinion that the more cautious is not to obligate, like this? Good.
So considering, because if the dirhams are heavy in weight, then considering the weight is more cautious for the poor.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Wait, and if they are light, then considering the number is more cautious. How? If they are light, then considering the number is more cautious for whom?

The questioner : For the poor.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Because the number can be two hundred dirhams that do not reach five awaqi, as long as they are light, they can reach four awaqi. So considering the number is more cautious. That is the opposite of that; I am not going [with that], because fifty dirhams reach five awaqi, for example, if they are heavy. And if they are light, considering the number is more cautious, because if the dirham does not reach even half a mithqal—except he put it to—except half a mithqal, there is no doubt that the number is more cautious. But the hadiths, as you see, are contradictory.
No Sadaqah is due on less than five Awaq. ليس فيما دون خمس أواق صدقة
Sunan an-Nasa'i 2486Sahih (Darussalam)
And the hadith of Abu Bakr that he wrote regarding alms
On silver, if it reaches five awaq (two hundred dirhams), في الرّقَة إذا بلغت مائتي درهم
Muwatta Malik 17:25
is explicit, and the explicit text takes precedence over the implied meaning, as is well known in the principles of jurisprudence. If someone were to go to the position that the more cautious consideration is the standard, then if considering the number is more cautious, zakah is obligatory. And if it is the weight, when does it become obligatory? There is no reason for it and no answer to it. Zakah is obligatory. And if the weight is more cautious, zakah is obligatory. Is that right? How? Zakah is obligatory, that's all. If considering the number is more cautious, this is what was mentioned before... Zakah is obligatory. And if the weight is more cautious, zakah is obligatory. So if someone were to go to that, it would not be far from the truth. Shall we proceed? Is it clear now, or is it not clear?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Meaning, what?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : And for this reason, I hope for safety... do not distribute it until it is corrected, yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, its correction in any case is what completes the obligation of zakah for him, meaning the lunar year does not complete for him except that it is coming, if Allah wills.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : It is a claim; a claim requires evidence. In any case, instead of this, if Allah wills, I will devote myself to it, if Allah wills. If you give it to me, I will not come to the lesson except that I am correcting it, if Allah wills, with the permission of Allah. That is enough, since the matter has reached this point.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Always give it to me, just give it to me, and if Allah wills, we will correct it for you. That is enough. So this needs to be corrected first. We still have [work] remaining. One of you says, meaning, we have lost time.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : What we wrote is the correct one; consider it, and it is the correct one. Good, can we go over it quickly? We will explain the book in a hurry, and if Allah the Exalted wills, you will understand it, as long as.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Be patient, may Allah reward you with good. Be patient, be patient.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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