emanating from Yemen, and from issues that none of the jurists of the Islamic schools—despite the diversity of their opinions and the distances between their lands—had ever heard of. Concerning them there is not the slightest trace of knowledge: no proof from the Book, no Sunnah, and no valid analogy.
We have already made it clear that the wealth of the Muslims is protected by the sanctity of Islam; it is unlawful to take any of it except with rightful cause, otherwise it is a form of devouring people’s property unjustly. That much should suffice you on this matter.
For further discussion, consult al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 1/194; it will increase you in fiqh and insight.
Important Note: Some people may assert that denying the obligation of zakat on trade goods deprives the poor and needy of their due share in the wealth of the affluent.
The reply is two-fold:
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The entire affair is in the hand of Allah Almighty; no one has the right to prescribe anything on his own without Allah’s permission. Allah says, “Your Lord creates whatever He wills and chooses; it is not for them to choose. Glorified be Allah and exalted is He above what they associate” (28:68). Do you not see that they are unanimously agreed that no zakat is due on vegetables—despite their many other disagreements, as the author and others have recorded—and that they likewise concur that no zakat is due on cane, grass, or firewood, no matter how great their value? Whatever answer they offer for that consensus is the answer to this objection, especially since the author has asserted categorically that zakat was never taken from vegetables nor from any other fruit except grapes and fresh dates.
I therefore say: this is the truth, and by it the claim is nullified at its very root.
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That claim rests on a short-sighted view of the wisdom behind the prescription of zakat—namely, that it exists solely for the benefit of the poor—whereas the reality is otherwise, as Allah says: “Zakat-funds are only for the poor and the needy, those employed to administer them, those whose hearts are to be reconciled…” (9:60).
If, then, we broaden our consideration of the wisdom even slightly, we will find the aforementioned claim baseless, because discarding