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The Prophet’s restricting the obligation to the five daily prayers shows that the witr prayer is not mandatory.
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It is permissible to spend the entire zakat on only one of the eight eligible categories.
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The phrase “among their poor” has been used to argue that zakat may not be transferred from one town to another. The stronger position is that transferring it is lawful, especially when there is a clear benefit—such as needy relatives who live elsewhere, or the support of jihad or religious learning. The Prophet ﷺ used to send out his collectors; they would bring the alms back to Madinah, where he distributed them. This practice is one of the two reports from Imam Ahmad, although the well-known view in his school is the first opinion.
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A further weakness in the view that forbids transfer is that the specific individuals addressed in the Qur’anic universal rulings are not themselves decisive; those very same people were commanded to pray, yet no one claims the prescription of prayer applies only to them.
The Second Ḥadīth
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“There is no zakat on less than five awāq of silver, no zakat on fewer than five head of camels, and no zakat on less than five wasqs of produce.”
Unfamiliar terms
• awāq: singular awqiyah; one awqiyah equals forty dirhams. The nisab will be calculated in modern currency below, Allah willing.
• dhawḍ: a collective noun with no singular form; it denotes between three and ten camels.
• wasqs: singular wasq (with a fatḥah on the wāw). Linguistically it means a “load”; legally it equals sixty ṣāʿs measured by the Prophetic ṣāʿ. Its present-day equivalent will be given later.
• dūn: “less than.” Muslim’s narration clarifies the meaning: “There is no zakat on grain or dates until they reach five wasqs.”
Overall meaning
Zakat is a form of social solidarity between rich and poor, and for that reason it is not taken from someone whose possessions are too small for him to be considered affluent. The Lawgiver therefore fixed a minimum threshold (nisab). Whoever owns less than that amount is treated as poor, and nothing is taken from him.
Accordingly, a person who owns silver does not owe zakat until he has five awāq; as each awqiyah is forty dirhams, the nisab comes to two hundred dirhams. Likewise, the owner of camels owes no zakat until he possesses five (head of camels).