…as for grapes, which are liable to zakat, the ruler would dispatch a kharis (official estimator). He would inspect the crop and state: “From this vineyard one should expect such-and-such weight of raisins and such-and-such weight of dates,” and he would record the estimate. He then calculates the amount due as a tithe, registers it against the owners, and leaves them with their produce. When harvest time arrives, he collects the tithe from them. (1) The isnad is extremely weak. Muhammad ibn Jami al-Attar was declared weak by Abu Ya la and Abu Hatim; Ibn Adi said no one corroborates his reports. His teacher Abd al-Hakim ibn Mansur was judged “abandoned” by Yahya ibn Main and al-Daraqutni. Abu Hatim said his hadith should not be written; Abu Dawud called him weak; al-Nasai said he is unreliable; Abu Ahmad al-Hakim described him as “worthless in hadith.” Nevertheless, the wording of the hadith is sound: it is transmitted by Abu Dawud (5148) in al-Adab, chapter “Consultation,” by al-Tirmidhi (2370) in al-Zuhd, chapter “How the Companions lived,” and (2823) in al-Adab, chapter “The consulted person is trustworthy,” and by Ibn Majah (3745) in al-Adab, same chapter—all through the chain of Shayban → Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr → Abu Salama → Abu Hurayra, who reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The person consulted is entrusted.” It is also recorded by Ahmad (5/274), Ibn Majah (3746) and al-Darimi (2/219) through al-A mash → Abu Amr al-Shaybani → Abu Mas ud al-Ansari → the Prophet ﷺ with the same wording: “The person consulted is entrusted.”