The hadith is one of dozens of proofs that the books of the legal schools have overlooked a considerable portion of the guidance of the best of creation, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Will this prompt the partisan adherents to give due attention to studying the sunnah and seeking illumination from its light? Perhaps it will—one can only hope.

879 — “Zakah is due on these four: wheat, barley, raisins, and dates.”

Al-Daraqutni recorded it (201) through Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hakam, from Musa ibn Talhah, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only prescribed zakah …” and so on. Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah is al-Arzami, who is abandoned; however, he has been corroborated.

Al-Daraqutni also recorded it, as did al-Hakim (1/401), through Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, who said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Amr ibn Uthman, from Musa ibn Talhah, who said: “We possess a written record from Muadh ibn Jabal, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stating that he collected zakah only from wheat …” and so on.

Al-Hakim said: “It is authentic according to the criteria of the two Sahihs,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. The rest of al-Hakim’s statement is: “Musa ibn Talhah was a senior Successor, and no one has denied that he lived in Muadh’s time.”

Al-Hafiz said in al-Talkhis (5/560): “I say: Abu Zurah rejected this, and Ibn Abd al-Barr said: ‘He neither met Muadh nor lived in his time.’”

I say: Nevertheless, al-Hakim cited for it a supporting report with an authentic chain, worded: