, all in a just manner.

15 – It is permissible to expend the entire zakah on one single category out of the eight eligible categories, for the Prophet ﷺ said: “to their poor.”

16 – Some scholars have taken this hadith to mean that zakah may not be transferred from the locality where the wealth is found to another locality, confining the Prophet’s ﷺ words “to their poor” to the poor of the land to which he was sending Muʿadh. The sounder view, however, is that transfer is allowed whenever a legitimate benefit exists—such as when the zakah-payer has needy relatives in another land, or when need in that other land is more acute.

The Prophet ﷺ used to dispatch collectors to receive zakah; they would bring it back to Madinah where it would be distributed. This is one of the two reports from Imam Ahmad. The well-known opinion in his school, though, is that it is impermissible to transfer it; this issue will be discussed further, God willing.

17 – The preacher and admonisher should proceed gradually in his call, beginning with the most important matters and then moving to those of lesser rank. In the same way, legislation from Allah came through His Messenger ﷺ in stages until the summons was completed and the religion perfected.

18 – The hadith shows that nothing of the prayers is obligatory except the five daily prayers; witr and other supererogatory prayers are not obligatory.

• Benefits:

First: The obligation of zakah rests on certain conditions, the most important of which are:

1 – Islam: it is not taken from a disbeliever, even though he is addressed with it and will be punished for failing to perform it.

2 – Possession of the nisab; its details will come, God willing.

3 – Completion of one lunar year; for produce of the land, its “year” is the time of harvest.

Second: Debt nullifies the obligation of zakah on hidden wealth—that which is not visible and is kept in safes and strongboxes.