Know, then, that dates and raisins are only deemed such once the dates have fully dried into tamr and the grapes into zabīb; before that they are treated as fresh dates and grapes. Grain is assessed after it has been winnowed from its chaff, and anything ordinarily stored in its hull—such as rice or ʿalas—is liable when it reaches ten wasqs.

One genus may not be added to a different genus to complete the nisab, but the various types within the same genus are combined. Zakāt is taken from each type in proportion to its share; if that is impracticable, it may be paid from medium-grade produce. ʿAlas is added to wheat because it is one of its varieties, whereas sult is regarded as a separate genus—though some classify it as barley and others as wheat.

The produce of one agricultural year is not combined with that of another. The fruits of the same year, however, are combined even if they ripen at different times, though another view holds that if the second batch appears only after the first has been harvested they are not combined. Two grain harvests grown in the same year are combined, and the stronger opinion makes this conditional on both harvests occurring within the same lunar year.

Any fruit or grain watered solely by rainfall, or by roots drawing on ground-water because of their nearness to it, is subject to one-tenth. Produce irrigated by bucket-drawing, a water-wheel, or purchased water is subject to half of that. Canals are treated like rainfall on the soundest view. Where both methods are used in equal measure, three-quarters of the tithe is due; if one method predominates, one opinion bases the rate on that method, but the preponderant view is that what counts is whichever source actually sustains and nourishes the crop. Another opinion bases the assessment on the number of irrigations.

Zakāt becomes obligatory once the fruit shows signs of ripening and the grain hardens. It is recommended to appraise (kharṣ) the crop immediately when ripeness appears, in the owner’s presence. The well-known doctrine is that the entire crop is included in the appraisal, that one appraiser suffices, and that he must be upright; according to the sounder view he must also be free and male.

After the appraisal, the preponderant opinion is that the poor’s right is transferred from the crop itself to a debt upon the owner, payable in the form of dates and raisins after they have dried. According to the school, this requires the appraiser to state the owner’s liability explicitly and the owner to accept; another view is that transfer occurs automatically by virtue of the appraisal.

Once the owner has assumed the liability, he may dispose of all the appraised produce, whether by sale or otherwise. If he later claims that the produce was lost through a hidden cause, such as theft, or through an obvious, well-known disaster, he is believed on his oath. If the alleged obvious cause is not publicly known, he must—on the sound view—first present evidence, after which his oath is accepted regarding the loss. Should he allege that the appraiser was biased or mistaken in a plainly far-fetched manner, the claim is rejected; if his allegation is at least plausible, it is accepted according to the stronger opinion.