Book of Zakāt
Chapter: The obligation of zakāt, upon whom it is due, and the kinds of property on which it is levied
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate. May Allah bless our master Muḥammad, his family, and his Companions, and grant them abundant peace.
Chapter: The obligation of zakāt, upon whom it is due, and the kinds of property on which it is levied
Zakāt is mandatory for every Muslim who is completely free when he has possessed the nisāb (minimum taxable amount) for a full lunar year. According to Mālik, minors and adults, males and females, the sane and the mentally incapacitated are all the same in this regard.
Zakāt is required on three categories of wealth:
- Silent assets—namely gold and silver;
- Livestock from the domesticated herd animals: camels, cattle, and sheep, to the exclusion of horses and all other beasts;
- Cultivated grains and certain fruits, as we shall explain later, Allah willing.
These, then, are the forms of property whose very substance is subject to zakāt. The underlying wisdom—Allah knows best—is that, in most cases, they are kept in order to seek growth and increase, whether through trade and circulation or through cultivation and breeding, rather than merely for subsistence or other personal use.