Gold is added to silver in completing the nisab . . .
His statement: “Gold is added to silver in completing the nisab.”
This involves two issues:
The first: Is gold added to silver in completing the nisab?
The scholars hold two views on this:
The first view: They are added together.
The second view: They are not added together.
The reasoning behind the first view is that the purpose of the two monetary metals is the same: gold dinars are intended for purchasing, and silver is intended for purchasing. They are the measures of value for goods, so their purpose is one; consequently, one is added to the other. Thus, if you possess ten mithqals and one hundred dirhams, one is added to the other, completing the nisab, and zakah becomes due on both. This reasoning, however, is refuted by what will follow.
Those who hold the second view cite the following evidence:
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The statement of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him: “No zakah is due on less than five awqiyahs.” (1) This applies whether one possesses enough gold to complete five awqiyahs or not.
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His statement, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, concerning dinars: “If you possess twenty dinars” (2). This applies both to one who possesses fewer than twenty and to one who possesses twenty. Thus, if he possesses fewer than twenty, no zakah is due from him, whether or not he possesses enough silver to complete the nisab.
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By analogy, barley is not added to wheat in completing