A Brief of Islamic Law

Zaka`t

  1. It is obligatory to pay Zakàt on the following things:

(i) Wheat (ii) Barley (iii) Dates (iv) Raisins (v) Gold (vi) Silver (vii) Camel (viii) Cow (ix) Sheep (including goat) (x) As an obligatory precaution, upon the wealth in business (merchandise).

And if a person is the owner of any of these ten things he should, in accordance with the conditions which will be mentioned later, put their fixed quantity to one of the uses as prescribed.

Conditions for Obligatory of Zakàt

  1. Payment of Zakàt becomes obligatory only when the property reaches the prescribed taxable limit, and when the owner of the property is a free person, and the property is his own possession.

  2. If a person remains the owner of cow, sheep, camel, gold or silver for 11 months, the payment of Zakàt becomes obligatory for him from the first of the 12th month; but he should calculate the beginning of the new year after the end of the 12th month.

  3. The liability of Zakàt on gold, silver and merchandise is conditional to its owner being sane and Bàligh during the whole year. But in the case of wheat, barley, raisins, date, camel, cow and sheep, being sane Bàligh is not a prerequisite.

  4. Payment of Zakàt on wheat and barley becomes liable when they are recognised as wheat and barley. And Zakàt on raisins becomes obligatory when they coll them grapes and Zakat on datest becomes liable when Arabs call it Tamr. However, the time for determining the taxable limit is the time of drying up, and the time of obligation of payment of Zakàt on wheat and barley is when they are threshed, and grains are separated from chaff; and the time for payment of Zakàt on raisins and dates is when they are plucked. If one delays since this time without any excuse and in case of presenece of entitled person, and then the property is lost, the owner will be responsible.

Zakàt of Wheat, Barley, Dates and Raisins

  1. Zakàt on wheat, barley, dates and raisins becomes obligatory when their quantity reaches the taxable limit which is 300 Sa and it is said that it equals approximately kg.

  2. If the owner of wheat, barley, dates or grapes dies after Zakàt on it has become obligatory, that quantity of Zakàt should be paid from his estate. However, if he dies before Zakàt becomes obligatory, each one of his heirs, whose share reaches the tax able limit, should pay Zakat from his own share.

  3. If payment of Zakàt becomes obligatory on date tree and grapes or the crop of wheat and barley after one becomes its owner, one should pay Zakàt on them.

  4. If a person sells the crop and trees after Zakàt on wheat, barley, palmdates and grapes becomes obligatory, the seller should pay the Zakàt on them, and if he pays, it will not be obligatory on the buyer to pay anything.

  5. If a person purchases wheat or barley or dates or grapes, and knows that the seller has paid Zakàt on them, or doubts whether or not he has paid it, it is not obligatory on him (i.e. the buyar) to pay anything. But if he knows that he (the seller) has not paid Zakàt on them, he can pay the Zakàt himself and reclaim it later from the seller.

  6. If a person has paid Zakàt once on wheat, barley, dates or raisins, on further Zakàt is payable on it, even if they remain with him for a few years.

  7. If wheat, barley, dates and grapes are watered with rain or river, or if they benefit from the moisture of the land, like in the case of Egyptain crops, the Zakàt payable on them is 10% and if they are watered with buckets etc., the Zakàt payable on them is 5%.

  8. A person cannot deduct the expenses incurred by him on the production of wheat, barley, dates and grapes from the income obtained from them, and then weigh the remaining. Hence if the weight of any one of them, before calculating the expenses, was about 847 kilogrammes, he should pay Zakàt on it.

  9. A person who has used seeds for farming, whether he owned them or he bought them, cannot deduct their value from the total harvest and calculate the rem aining. Rath re, he should culculate the tacable limit taking into account the entire crop.

  10. It is not obligatory to pay Zakàt on what goverment takes away from the goods or wealth itself. For example, if the harvest is 2000 kilogrammes, and goverment takes 50 kilogrammes from it as taxation, it is obligatory to pay Zakàt on 1950 kilogrammes only.

  11. As an obligatory precaution, a person cannot deduct from the harvest the expenses incurred by him before or after Zakàt became due, paying Zakàt on the balance only.

  12. If a date tree or vine bears fruit twise in a year, and when combined they reach the minimum taxable limit, it is obligatory as a precaution, to pay their Zakàt.

  13. If a person dies with a debt, and has a property on which Zakàt has become due, it is necessary that, in the first instance, the entire Zakàt should be paid out from that property, and thereafter pay his debt. But if Zakàt is obligatory on him as a debt, it will be deemed as other debts.

  14. Zakàt on gold and silver becomes obligatory only when they are made into coins, are in currency for transaction, and as these are not found nowadays, we abandon mentioning their rules here.

Zakàt Payable on Camel, Cow and Sheep (Including Goat)

  1. For Zakàt on camels, cows and sheep (including goats) there is one additional condition, besides the other usual conditions:

The animal should have grazed in the jungle or open fields for one year. If, for a year or apart of it, it is fed with cut or plucked grass, or if it has grazed in the farm owned by its owner, or somebody else, there is no Zakàt on it, except when it was only a little time during which the animal fed itself with the grass from its master's farm, so that it can be said commonly that it grazed in open fields for the whole year. It is not a condition for obligation of Zakàt that the camel, cow or small cattle should not have worked during the whole year. In fact, Zakàt on them will be obligatory, if they are used for irrigation and ploughing the land, or the like, provided that it is said commonly that they were idle or not busy. Even if they are not considered so, as an obligatory precaution Zakàt should be paid on them.

Minimum Taxable limit of Camels

  1. Camel has 12 taxable limits:

(i) 5 Camels: and the Zakàt on them is one sheep. As long as the number of camels does not reach five, no Zakàt is payable on them. (ii) 10 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 2 sheep. (iii) 15 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 3 sheep. (iv) 20 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 4 sheep. (v) 25 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 5 sheep. (vi) 26 camels: and the Zakàt on them is a camel which has entered the 2nd year of its life. (vii) 36 camels: and the Zakàt on them is a camel which has entered the 3rd year of its life. (viii) 46 camels: and the Zakàt on them is a camel which has entered the 4th year of its life. (ix) 61 camels: and the Zakàt on them is a camel which has entered the 5th year of its life. (x) 76 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 2 camels which have entered the 2rd year of their life. (xi) 91 camels: and the Zakàt on them is 2 camels which have entered the 4th year of their life.

(xii) 121 camels and above: In this case, the person concerned should either calculate the camels on group of 40 each, and give for each set of forty camels a camel, which has entered the third year of its life; or calculate them on groups of 50 each and give as Zakàt, for every 50 camels, a camel which has entered the 4th year of its life, or he may calculate them in the groups of forty and fifty. In some cases one has the option to calculate in the groups of forty or fifty, like when the number is 200, but in every case he should calculate in such a way that there should be no balance, and even if there is a balance, it should not exceed nine. For example, if he has 140 camels he should give for 100 camels, two such camels as have entered the fourth year of their life, and for the remaining forty camels, he should pay one camel which has entered the third year of its life. And the camel to be given in Zakàt should be female. In the situation of the above sixth case, however, if one has not a two year old female camel, a three year old male camel will suffice, and if he has not even this, he has the option to buy either of them.

  1. It is not obligatory to pay Zakàt on what is in between two taxable limits. Therefore, if the number of camels of a person exceeds the first taxable limit, which is 5 camels, but does not reach the second taxable limit which is 10 camels, he should pay Zak ot on ony 5 of them and the same way with the succeeding taxable limits.

The Minimum Taxable Limit of Cows

  1. Cow has two taxable limits.

Its first taxable limit is 30. If the number of cows owned by a person reaches 30, and other conditions mentioned above are fulfilled, he should give by way of Zakàt a calf which has entered the 2nd year of its life; and the obligatory precaution is that the calf should be a male. And its second taxable limit is 40, and its Zakàt is a female calf which has entered the 3rd year of its life. And it is not obligatory to pay additional Zakàt when the number of the cows is between 30 and 40. For example, if a person possesses 39 cows, he should pay Zakàt on 30 cows only. Furthermore, if he possesses more than 40 cows but their number does not reach he should pay Zakat on 40 cows only. And when their number reaches 60, which is twice as much as the first taxable limit, he should give as Zakàt 2 calves, which have entered the 2nd year of their life. And similarly, as the number of the cows increases, he should calculate either in thirties or in forties or in both 30 and 40, and should pay Zakàt in accordance with the rule explained above. However, he should calculate in such a way, that there should be no remalnder, and in case there is a remainder, it should not exceed 9. For example, if he has 70 cows, he should calculate at the rate of both 30 and 40, and he should not calculate them as two groups of 30, because 10 cows will be left without Zakàt being paid on them. In some cases like when the cows are 120, one has the option to calculate their Zakàt in groups of 30 or 40.

Taxable limit of Sheep (Including Goats)

  1. Sheep has 5 taxable limits:

* The 1st taxable limit is 40, and its Zakàt is one sheep. And as long as the number of sheep does not reach 40, no Zakàt is payable on them.

* The 2nd taxable limit is 121, and its Zakàt is 2 sheep. * The 3rd taxable limit is 201, and its Zakàt is 3 Sheep. * The 4th taxable limit is 301, and its Zakàt is 4 Sheep.

* The 5th taxable limit is 400 and above, and in this case one sheep should be given as Zakàt for each group of 100 sheep. And it is not necessary to give Zakàt from the same sheep. It will be sufficient if some other sheep are given or money equal to the price of the sheep is given as Zakàt.

  1. It is not obligatory to pay additional Zakàt for the number of sheep between the two taxable limits. So, if the number of sheep exceeds the first taxable limit (which is 40), but does not reach the 2nd taxable limit (which is 121), the owner should pay Zakàt on 40 sheep only, and no Zakàt is due on the sheep exceeding that number, and the same rule applies to the succeeding taxable limits.

  2. If a person gives a sheep as Zakàt, it is necessary, as anobligatory precaution, that it sholud have at least entered the 2nd year of its life, and if he gives a goat it should have, on the basis of precaution, entered the 3rd year of its life.

  3. If some persons are partners, then the person whose share reaches the first taxable limit should pay Zakàt. It is not obligatory on the person whose share does not reach the first taxable limit to pay Zakàt.

Zakàt on Business Goods

928 Goods earned by commutative contracts, and set aside for investment in business or profit earning, is, as a precaution, liable for Zakàt if certain conditions are fulfilled. The rate of Zakàt is 1/40.

(i) The owner of the goods should he Bàligh and sane. (ii) The goods should have reaches the price of 15 Mithqals of coined gold or 105 Mithqals of coined silver. (iii) The goods should have remained for one year ever since the owner intended to invest it for profit. (iv) The intention of investing it for profit should have remained unchanged throughout the year. If the intention changes, like, when he decides to spend it for maintenance, then paying Zakàt is not necessary. (v) The owner should be actually capable of its disposal throughout the year. (vi) Throughout the year the owner should have a buyer of the goods equal to the capital or more. If, during the year, he getsany buyer for the goods for equal to the capital out lay, it will not be obligatory upon him to pay its Zakàt.

Disposal of Zakàt

  1. Zakàt can be spent for the following eight purposes:

(i) It may be given to a poor person, who does not possess actual or potential means to meet his own expenses, as well as that of his family for a period of one year. However, a person who has an art possesses property or capital to meet his expenses, is not classified as poor. (ii) It may be paid to a Miskin (a destitute person) who leads a harder life than a poor (Faqir) person. (iii) It can be given to a person who is an agent of holy Imam (A.S.) or of his representative for collecting Zakàt, to keep it in safe custody, to maintain its accounts and to deliver it to the Imam or his representative or to the poor. (iv) It can be given to those non-Muslims who may, as a result, be inclined to Islam, or may assist the Muslims for fighting against the enemies, or for other justified purposes. It can be given to those Muslims also whose faith in the Prophet or in the Wilayah of Amir-ul-Mu'minin is unstable and weak, provided that, as a result of giving Zakàt, their faith is enterenched. (v) It can be spent to purchase the slaves to set them free, the details of which have been given in its relevent chapter. (vi) It can be given to an indebted person who is unable to repay his debt. (vii) It may be spent in the way of Allah for things which have common benefit to the Muslims; for example, to construct a mosque, or a school for religious education, or to keep the city clean, or to widen or to build tar roads etc. (viii) It may be given to a stranded traveller.

These are the situations in which Zakàt can be spent. But in situations number 3 and 4, the owner cannot spend without the permission of Imam (A.S.) or his representative; and the same applies to the 7th situation, as per obligatory precaution. Rules relating to these are explained in the following articles:

  1. A poor person who can do business and earn money for his and his family's maintenance, but does not do it lazily, is not permitted to receive Zakàt. Also a poor student, whose working or doing business stops him continuing the study, cannot take from the poor part of Zakàt in any way, except when study is absolutely obligatory on him. He can as an obligatory precaution, take from the part which can be spent in the way of Allah with the permission of Mujtahid, providing his study has a public benefit, and if it is not difficult for a person to learn an art, he should not, as an obligatory precaution, depend on Zakàt. However, he can receive Zakàt as long as he is learning the art.