the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever is made guardian of an orphan who owns property should trade with it on the orphan’s behalf; do not leave it idle until the zakah consumes it.” This is the core hadith of the present chapter.
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Al-Shāfiʿī records (1/92) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Seek profit through the orphan’s wealth; do not allow the zakah to deplete it.”
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Al-Ṭabarānī relates in al-Awsat (4152), on the authority of Anas, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Invest the property of the orphans; let not the zakah eat it up.” The chain of transmission is sound.
Those who held the obligation of zakah on a minor’s wealth include ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Ibn ʿUmar, ʿĀʾishah, and Jābir—may Allah be pleased with them all. No contrary view is known from any Companion, so the position amounts to consensus.
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The purpose of zakah is to relieve the poor out of the wealth of the affluent, and the property of a child or an insane person is equally suited to that aim.
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By unanimous agreement, the assets of a minor or an insane person may be used to discharge people’s financial rights; by the same reasoning, zakah is due on their property just like any other obligation.
Reply to the proofs of those who deny the obligation:
(a) The purification mentioned in the verse is not restricted to cleansing sin so as to apply only to the legally accountable; rather, it is general, covering moral development, self-refinement, and habituation to virtuous traits.
(b) As for the hadith, “The pen has been lifted from three,” it means that sin and personal liability are lifted from them. Zakah is not imposed on them as persons; it is imposed on their wealth. Therefore, the lifting of the pen does not include the financial rights of others that must be satisfied from their assets.
(c) Concerning the claim that zakah is a purely devotional act like prayer, we reply that it is a financial act of worship with its own character, in which representation (niyābah) is valid.
In short: zakah is a financial act of worship that permits representation; the guardian stands in for the minor in fulfilling this duty. Bodily acts of worship such as prayer and fasting, by contrast, are physical obligations that admit no vicarious performance.