and above, while anything short of that incurs no zakat.
A person who owns grain or fruit is not liable until his produce reaches five wasqs; one wasq equals sixty sāʿs, so the nisab is three hundred sāʿs.
Points derived from the ḥadith:
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Zakat is obligatory upon anyone who possesses the specified nisabs—or any one of them. Setting these thresholds fosters solidarity between rich and poor.
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No zakat is due on wealth that falls below these limits. Ibn al-Mundhir related a consensus that nothing under five wasqs of the earth’s produce is subject to zakat, and Imam Mālik overlooks a slight shortfall.
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When silver reaches two hundred dirhams, one pays a quarter of a tenth (2.5%). When camels number five, one sheep is due; at ten, two sheep; at fifteen, three; and at twenty, four.
Once they reach twenty-five, the obligation is a bint makhāḍ (a one-year-old she-camel). Any surplus between these brackets is disregarded. Thereafter zakat follows the age classes of camels as detailed in the ḥadith of Anas. When grain or fruit reaches five wasqs (three hundred Prophetic sāʿs), zakat becomes due. If the crop is irrigated at cost—by water-wheels or pumps—half a tenth (5%) is taken; if watered without cost—by rivers, surface springs, or an artesian well whose water flows above ground—a full tenth (10%) is taken, in keeping with the Prophet’s saying: “For what the sky waters, a tenth; for what is watered by the sāniyah, half a tenth,” recorded by Muslim from Jābir. -
Gold is not mentioned in this ḥadith because their currency was mostly silver. Abū Dāwūd narrated from ʿAlī, in a report traced back to the Prophet, “Nothing is due on you until you possess twenty dinars.” Ibn Ḥajar deemed it sound (ḥasan), and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr stated that consensus holds the nisab of gold to be twenty mithqals.
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According to Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad, zakat is compulsory on grains and fruits that are measured and stored. Abū Ḥanīfah extends the duty even to vegetables. The first view is stronger: only what can be measured and stored represents a complete blessing, and al-Dāraquṭnī transmitted the prophetic report, “There is no zakat on vegetables.” Although weak, it is supported by other evidence.