4 – The earlier hadith recorded by al-Bukhari (1366), “No charity is due on less than five wasqs of grain, and no charity is due on less than five wasqs of fruit,” proves that zakat is incumbent on every type of fruit that is stored and measured, and that it is obligatory on all grains. The Prophet used the unrestricted terms “grain” and “fruit,” which include every variety of each; he then qualified the fruit by its suitability for storage and by the fact that it is measured by volume.

5 – Al-Furuʿ states: If someone acquires the crop before it ripens and it then ripens while still in his possession, zakat becomes due on him, for the cause of liability has occurred under his ownership. If, however, it ripens in the hands of a person upon whom zakat is not obligatory, no zakat is payable on it.

6 – Several scholars have said that no zakat is due on tithe-able produce after the first lunar year, even if it is set aside for trade, because it does not become a commercial asset until it is sold, just like personal effects kept for use.

Disagreement among the scholars
The jurists differ over which agricultural yields are subject to zakat:

• Imam Abu Hanifah maintains that zakat is obligatory on any quantity, large or small, of everything the earth produces—every kind of grain, every kind of fruit, all other produce, vegetables, legumes, and even flowers. His proof is the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “On what is watered by rain or springs, or is naturally irrigated, the due is a tenth …,” narrated by al-Bukhari (1412). He thus generalizes the obligation to everything that grows from the earth.

• The other three Imams hold that zakat is due only on what is measured by volume, even if it is not a staple food, such as cumin seed, leek seed, almond kernels, and the like. Their evidence is the aforementioned hadith: “No charity is due on less than five wasqs of dates, and no charity is due on less than five wasqs of grain.” This hadith confines the obligation to fruits and grains alone.