are not liable for zakah, for they are instruments of labor. Zakah is levied instead on the fruits of their work and their production—that is, on what is harvested from the land.
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By analogy, every asset that is set aside for ongoing activity and retention, and not purchased for commercial growth in itself, carries the same ruling. Its growth lies in what it yields, not in the asset per se—such as transport lorries, agricultural pumps, ploughing machinery, and the like. None of these are subject to zakah.
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The same applies to the articles of personal ownership and household use previously mentioned: means of transport, carpets, utensils, household furniture, and so forth. These are assets immobilised from growth because they are kept for use; therefore, no zakah is due on them. Earlier we explained that this is the very rationale for exempting jewellery kept for personal adornment, and we cited the statement of Shaykh al-Islam to the effect that the Lawgiver was concerned only with detailing what is liable to zakah, while leaving unmentioned—and thereby pardoned—what is not.
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Although the report is not treated as marfūʿ, it is nonetheless probative, for it is the statement of a Companion from among the Rightly Guided Caliphs. It is further corroborated by the Prophet’s words: “No zakah is due from a Muslim on his slave or his horse,” related by Muslim (1631).