(141) “It is He who brought into being gardens, both trellised and untrellised, and date palms and crops of varied produce, and olives and pomegranates, similar yet dissimilar. Eat of their fruit when they bear fruit, and give what is due on the day of harvest, but do not be wasteful. Indeed, He does not love the wasteful.”
After mentioning the polytheists’ arbitrary practices concerning much of the crops and livestock that Allah had made lawful for them, Allah Most High mentioned His blessing upon them through these things and the duty incumbent upon them regarding their crops and livestock. He said, “It is He who brought into being gardens”—that is, orchards containing many kinds of trees and different plants.
“Both trellised and untrellised”—that is, some of those gardens are provided with trellises over which their growth spreads, supporting it and lifting it from the ground. Others have no trellises: their plants either grow upright upon stems or spread along the ground. This points to their many benefits and abundant good, and to the fact that Allah Most High taught His servants how to trellis them and foster their growth.
Allah Most High also brought into being “date palms and crops of varied produce.” All of them grow in the same place and drink from the same water, yet Allah makes some superior to others in taste.
Allah Most High singled out date palms and crops—despite their many varieties—because of their numerous benefits and because they constitute the staple food of most creatures. He also brought into being “olives and pomegranates, similar” in the appearance of their trees “yet dissimilar” in their fruit and taste.
It is as though someone asked: For what purpose did Allah bring these gardens and the other things mentioned with them into being? He therefore explained that He created them for the benefit of His servants, saying, “Eat of their fruit”—that is, of the date palms and crops—“when they bear fruit, and give what is due on the day of harvest.” In other words, give the crops their due, namely zakāt in the prescribed proportions established by Islamic law. He commanded them to give it on the day of harvest because harvesting crops takes the place of the completion of a full year: it is the time eagerly anticipated by the poor, and it is then easy for the growers to pay. Its payment also becomes evident, so that those who pay may be distinguished from those who do not.
The words “but do not be wasteful” encompass the prohibition of excess in eating—meaning exceeding proper limits and customary bounds—as well as a grower eating so much that it diminishes the zakāt. They also prohibit excess in giving the crops’ due, such as giving more than is obligatory in a manner that harms the giver, his dependants, or his creditors. All of this is wastefulness, which Allah has forbidden and does not love; rather, He hates it and detests those who engage in it.
This verse proves that zakāt is obligatory on fruit crops and that no annual holding period applies to them. Rather, the equivalent of their annual due date is the harvesting of crops and the picking of dates. It also proves that zakāt is not repeatedly levied upon them, even if they remain in a person’s possession for many years, provided they are not held for trade, because Allah commanded that payment be made from them only at harvest.
It further proves that if they are afflicted by some blight before that time, without negligence on the part of the owner of the crops or fruit, he is not liable for them. It is also permissible to eat from the date palms and crops before paying their zakāt. What is eaten is not included in the zakāt assessment; rather, zakāt is paid on what remains afterward.