There are also matters over which scholars differ, such as honey: is zakah due on it or not? And buried treasure: is what is due on it zakah or not? These issues will be discussed, Allah willing.
Zakah becomes obligatory only when certain conditions are met. Part of Allah’s wisdom and perfection in prescribing His obligations and laws is that He has assigned conditions to them—that is, specific attributes without which they do not become obligatory—so that the laws may be well regulated and not subject to disorder.
For if there were no conditions, every person could judge something to be obligatory and something else not obligatory. But when obligations are precisely regulated by conditions and clearly defined, there is no room for disagreement, and people act with knowledge and clear understanding. Whenever the conditions are present in a matter, the ruling is established; and whenever they are absent, it ceases to apply.
There are likewise impediments which prevent zakah from becoming obligatory even when its conditions are present. No matter is complete except through the fulfilment of its conditions and the absence of its impediments. Their explanation will come, Allah willing.
Zakah is obligatory upon five conditions: freedom, Islam, ownership of the nisab, its stable possession, and the passing of a lunar year …
His statement: “It is obligatory upon five conditions: freedom, Islam, ownership of the nisab, its stable possession, and the passing of a lunar year.”
The conditions that make zakah obligatory are:
- Freedom: its opposite is slavery. Thus, zakah is not obligatory upon a slave—that is, an owned servant—because he owns nothing; the wealth in his possession belongs to his master.
The evidence for this is the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Whoever sells a slave who possesses wealth, then his wealth …”