Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (25/19)

As for what is taken from the sea, such as pearls and coral, the majority hold that no zakat is due on it. Others hold that zakat is due: this is the position of al-Zuhrī and al-Hasan al-Basrī, and one reported position of Ahmad.

Section

Debt cancels the obligation of zakat on monetary wealth according to Mālik, Abū Hanīfah and Ahmad, and according to one of al-Shāfi'ī’s two positions. This is also the position of 'Atā', al-Hasan, Sulaymān ibn Yasār, Maymūn ibn Mihrān, al-Nakha'ī, al-Thawrī, al-Awzā'ī, al-Layth, Ishāq and Abū Thawr.

They cite as evidence what Mālik relates in al-Muwatta' from al-Sā'ib ibn Yazīd, who said: I heard 'Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—say:

“This is the month for your zakat. Whoever owes a debt should repay it, so that your wealth is free of debt and you may pay zakat from it.”

According to Mālik, if a person has non-monetary assets sufficient to cover the debt, he leaves his monetary wealth intact and sets those assets against the debt. These are the assets that a judge would sell to settle the debt: whatever exceeds his essential needs. If he is himself owed a debt by a solvent, trustworthy person, he likewise sets it against his own debt and pays zakat on his monetary wealth. If, however, he has nothing beyond the wealth in his possession, the obligation of zakat lapses.

Section

There is disagreement over whether zakat is due on honey. The scholars of Medina differed on this matter.

وَأَمَّا مَا يَخْرَجُ مِنْ الْبَحْرِ كَاللُّؤْلُؤِ وَالْمَرْجَانِ فَلَا زَكَاةَ فِيهِ عِنْدَ الْجُمْهُورِ. وَقِيلَ فِيهِ الزَّكَاةُ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الزُّهْرِيِّ وَالْحَسَنِ الْبَصْرِيِّ وَرِوَايَةٌ لِأَحْمَدَ. فَصْلٌ: وَالدَّيْنُ يُسْقِطُ زَكَاةَ الْعَيْنِ: عِنْدَ مَالِكٌ وَأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ وَأَحْمَد وَأَحَدُ قَوْلَيْ الشَّافِعِيِّ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ عَطَاءٍ وَالْحَسَنُ وَسُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ يَسَارٍ وَمَيْمُونُ بْنُ مهران والنَّخَعِي وَالثَّوْرِيِّ وَالْأَوْزَاعِي وَاللَّيْثِ وَإِسْحَاقَ " وَأَبِي ثَوْرٍ. وَاحْتَجُّوا بِمَا رَوَاهُ مَالِكٌ فِي الْمُوَطَّأِ عَنْ السَّائِبِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ قَالَ: سَمِعْت عُثْمَانَ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - يَقُولُ: هَذَا شَهْرُ زَكَاتِكُمْ فَمَنْ كَانَ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنٌ فَلْيُؤَدِّهِ حَتَّى تَخْلُصَ أَمْوَالُكُمْ تُؤَدُّونَ مِنْهَا الزَّكَاةَ. وَعِنْدَ مَالِكٌ إنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ عُرُوضٌ تُوَفِّي الدَّيْنَ تَرَكَ الْعَيْنَ وَجَعَلَهَا فِي مُقَابَلَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَهِيَ الَّتِي يَبِيعُهَا الْحَاكِمُ فِي الدَّيْنِ مَا يَفْضُلُ عَنْ ضَرُورَتِهِ وَإِنْ كَانَ لَهُ دَيْنٌ عَلَى مَلِيءٍ ثِقَةٍ جَعَلَهُ فِي مُقَابَلَةِ دَيْنِهِ أَيْضًا. وَزَكَّى الْعَيْنَ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ إلَّا مَا بِيَدِهِ سَقَطَتْ الزَّكَاةُ. فَصْلٌ: وَاخْتُلِفَ: هَلْ فِي الْعَسَلِ زَكَاةٌ؟ فَكَانَ الْخِلَافُ فِيهِ بَيْنَ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ.