It is also reported that Mu‘ādh collected no zakat on honey. Al-Humaydī said (1): “Sufyān narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Maysara narrated to us, from Tāwūs, from Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, that he was brought cattle falling between successive zakat thresholds, and honey—I believe (2). Mu‘ādh said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave me no instructions to collect anything on either of them.’”

Al-Shāfi‘ī said (3): “Mālik informed us, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, who said: ‘A letter from ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz reached my father while he was at Minā, instructing him not to collect zakat on horses or honey.’” This was the view adopted by Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī.

Ahmad, Abū Hanīfa, and a number of other scholars held that honey is subject to zakat (4). They considered these reports mutually reinforcing, since they originated from several sources and came through different chains of transmission; those with disconnected chains are supported (5) by those with connected chains. Abū Hātim al-Rāzī (6) was asked about ‘Abd Allāh, Munīr’s father, who narrated from Sa‘d ibn Abī Dhubāb: “Is his hadith authentic?” He replied: “Yes.”

These scholars said: “Moreover, honey is produced from tree blossoms and flowers, is measured by volume, and can be stored. Zakat is therefore obligatory on it, just as on grains and fruits.”