In the name of Allah, praise be to God, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.
Legality of Zakat on dates:
Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam, and it is the presumption of prayer in the Qur’an. It is one of the greatest acts of worship in Islam after prayer, and zakat is obligatory in several types and resources that have been proven obligatory according to the evidence of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Almighty: {He who created the gardens Marroucat and non Marroucat and palm trees and planting different fruit, olives and pomegranates similar and dissimilar eat of the fruit if the fruit and pay the right day harvest and waste not by love prodigals [cattle: 141], and said the Prophet peace be upon him, said: (While the rivers and clouds were irrigated the tenth, and while the water was irrigated in al-Saniyah * half a tenth) Narrated by Muslim.
There was unanimous consensus on the necessity of zakat on it, and among those types, the most prominent of which is: dates.
Nisab for Zakat on dates:
The nisab here is the minimum amount for which zakat is due from the dates, and the Prophet’s Sunnah determined the quorum of crops in general - and dates from them - as stated in the authentic hadith: (Not without five ausq ** charity) and the five ausuq is an estimated size and not a weight, but as a matter of convenience. Bringing worship closer to Muslims, as its size was measured by weight. So the five Osaq reached the modern weight: [653] kilograms, taking into account that the estimated size or weight should be on dates and not based on their origin - which is the wet - based on what was mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in that.
When Zakat on dates is due:
Zakat on dates is due directly at harvest:
The year is not taken into account in the zakat of the crops, but the season and the yield are taken into account, because God Almighty says: {And give it its due on the day it is harvested, and do not be extravagant, because it does not like the waste because it is lavished before that. As if he sells it wet.
Estimating zakat before harvest:
Although Zakat is due at harvest; However, the owner of the date palm before that - when it begins to ripen and its goodness - must take into account that Zakat is due on all the fruits. So he will count his account if he disposes of something from it before harvesting and that is by way of licking it, for it has been proven on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him that he used to send someone to save the people with their palm trees, that is, he looked at what he carried of the fruit - the wet - and he estimated what he thought and his opinion based on his experience: How much The palm will be produced from dates; So he builds on him how much her zakat will be, then he lets the palm trees for her family to dispose of them as they like. Without touching the amount of zakat specified by al-Kharis.
Does the Zakat assessment be based on all the palm trees?
Many scholars have decided that zakat is excluded from what the owner of the palm trees uses for himself, his dependents, his neighbors and his guests. Inferring the general meaning of the verse: {And give it its due on the day it is harvested} where they said: The duty was not at the time of harvest, not before. They also quoted what was narrated on the authority of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, that he used to say: (If you lose heart, take and leave the third, and if you do not leave the third then call the quarter.) [Narrated by Ahmad, Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood and Al-Nasa’i], and in another hadith: (Relax the people in the heart ...) [ Ibn Abd al-Barr in the preface from the hadith of Jabir], and also mentioned in its meaning a trace on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him [according to al-Bayhaqi and others], and although it is proven that the two hadiths and the trace are considered, but in their entirety they pull each other together, as Al-Nawawi, Ibn Al-Muqin and Ibn Hajar went to him. And work on that according to most of the scholars as mentioned by Abu Issa al-Tirmidhi when he graduated the hadith, so it is well known in the doctrine of Malik and Al-Shafi’i and the words of Ahmad, Al-Layth and others, may God have mercy on them.
Amount of duty in zakat on dates:
The Sunnah of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, specified the amount of duty in dates if they reach the nisab. Among this is the hadith of Muslim above that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: (As the rivers and clouds were watered by the ten clouds, and as the waterings were watered in the tongue half a tenth) and in another hadith according to Al-Bukhari that he blessed God Upon him he said: (When the sky, rivers, and springs were watered, or it was rainwater *** the tenth, and while watered with the sawani, or sprinkling: half a tenth). It is clear from the two hadiths that the amount of the obligation for zakat on dates varies according to the effort expended in irrigation, as follows:
1. In the case of irrigation without cost, the duty is one-tenth (10%).
2. If it is irrigated by machine and cost, then half a tenth (5%).
3. If they are irrigated equally, then three quarters of a tenth (7.5%), as determined by the scholars.
4. If one of them was irrigated more, he considered more of it, then zakat was due under it.
5. If the amount that was irrigated is not known, the tithe is due, because it is certain.
Looking at the state of most date palm farms in our reality today, we find that most of them, if not most, are based on irrigation at the cost of the owner. The second item in the amount of duty applies to her, which is half of one-tenth (5%).
Through the foregoing, the wisdom of God Almighty becomes clear and is evident in that He reduced the zakat to the one who is invested in its irrigation, and made his zakat on the half of the zakat of those who did not cost to grow it. stayed; Because it was taken into account in the required amount, where his zakat was equal to half a tenth instead of a tenth, and this is a matter that some overlook, so it is necessary to alert.
Important matters:
1. If the dates differ in badness and quality, then zakat is taken from the middle or higher, and not from what is below the middle. Proof of this is in the words of God Almighty: {O ye who believe! Spend of the good things (legally) earned and which brought us out to you from the earth, nor Timmwa malignant than you spend and you are not Bakhve but Ngamadoa in it and know that God is rich Hamid [Baqarah: 267] ie: Aqsdoa in Nafqatkm The good that you love for yourselves, and do not conceal the bad that you do not desire, and do not take it except in the face of ambiguity and forgiveness. Know that God is rich on your behalf, and the benefit of your charity and your deeds belongs to you.
2. If the palm lands differed and multiplied, then their owner collects what has been produced by all his lands and adds them to some in the calculation of their zakat, bearing in mind that what the palm produces in homes and dwellings is included in the zakat calculation as long as it reaches the nisab on its own or by adding it to the palm of its owner in his farms that he owns.
3. The basic principle is for the farmer to pay the zakat of his date palm, and this is the opinion of the public based on what was mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and what was done after that. However, the Hanafi school of thought considers the permissibility of taking out the value, by calculating the amount of duty from the crop, then He estimates its value in the market and takes it out in cash. The most correct, and God knows best, is the view of the majority of scholars, bearing in mind that if the owner of the plantation does not find someone to take his zakat dates, or he is unable to take it out as dates, then there is nothing wrong with taking out the value instead of dates, and God Almighty knows best.

By
Dr. Abdul-Rahman Salman Al-Hammadi
Zakat Fund