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The finder must set aside the one-fifth as soon as he uncovers the hoard, as the ḥadith plainly states, for its increase is already complete. Where increase is complete the lapse of a (lunar) year is irrelevant, since that period is only fixed to allow wealth to grow. Al-Nawawī says: “The consensus is that rikāz is not subject to the one-year requirement.”
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The apparent purport of the ḥadith is that the fifth is taken from the treasure itself and not from its appraised value, whether the find is gold, silver, copper, iron, or anything else.
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These characteristics show that rikāz is closer in nature to fayʾ than to zakat.
For that reason many scholars hold that its revenue is treated like fayʾ and spent on public interests, not like zakat, which is distributed among the eight designated categories. Rikāz differs from zakat in the following ways:
- Zakat is only taken from wealth that reaches a specified niṣāb, whereas rikāz is charged one-fifth whether the amount is small or great.
- The fifth of rikāz is taken from the treasure itself, whereas the zakat on merchandise is paid in currency.
- Rikāz becomes liable the moment it is unearthed, whereas zakat is not due until a full, defined year has passed.
- The proceeds of rikāz, like fayʾ, are spent on public welfare projects, whereas zakat is confined to the well-known eight categories.
- Rikāz is assessed at one-fifth, while the highest rate in zakat is one-tenth and the lowest is one-fortieth.
Hadith 3
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, appointed ʿUmar over the ṣadaqah, and it was said to him (1) that Ibn Jamīl, Khālid ibn al-Walīd, and al-ʿAbbās, the Prophet’s uncle, had refused to pay it.
The Messenger of Allah said, “What grievance does Ibn Jamīl have except that he was poor and Allah enriched him?
“As for Khālid, you are wronging him, for he has set aside his coats of mail and his weaponry for the sake of Allah.
“And as for al-ʿAbbās, he already pays it—and the same amount again.”
He then said, “O ʿUmar, do you not know that a man’s paternal uncle is the counterpart of his father?”
Unfamiliar expressions:
yanqimu (with a kasrah on the qāf) means “to find fault” or “to object.” In rhetorical usage here it conveys censure couched as though it were praise—an elegant turn of speech.