barley, wheat, raisins, and dates—meaning that zakat is obligatory only on these four. The question, however, is whether this is an enumeration of specific items (ḥaṣr ʿayn), restricting the duty exclusively to these four kinds, or an enumeration of qualities (ḥaṣr waṣf), so that zakat is also due on whatever resembles them among stored grains and fruit.

The scholarly dispute on this point has already been mentioned, and the stronger view is that it is an enumeration of qualities: zakat is required on every type of grain and fruit that can be stored. This is the position of the majority, though they differ over the precise limits of what is included or excluded. They base this generalization on reports from the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and on the rationale that zakat applies to stored produce that is subject to the tithe. They say that produce which cannot be stored represents an incomplete blessing and therefore carries no zakat. They cite the statement of Maʿadhah: “As for cucumbers, watermelons, pomegranates, and sugarcane, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has exempted them” (reported by al-Dāraquṭnī 2/97 and al-Ḥākim 1/145).

A group of the early predecessors, however, held to the literal restriction, among them al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, al-Thawrī, and al-Shaʿbī, and limited zakat to the four categories mentioned in the hadith.

In Sabil al-Salam it is related from al-Manār: “With respect to anything beyond these four, caution is advisable both in taking and in leaving it. The default rule is the inviolability of a Muslim’s property, just as the default is freedom from liability, and no proof strong enough has been produced to override these two principles.”

Decision of the Council of Senior Scholars on collecting zakat

The Council of Senior Scholars, in Decision no. 133 dated 17/6/1406 AH, summarized the matter as follows:

First: The compulsory collection of manifest wealth is a legitimate practice that Muslims have observed since the time of the Prophet ﷺ and his rightly guided successors, in obedience to the Almighty’s words: “Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them to grow” (Quran 9:103). The state, therefore, should continue to