Zakat of Wheat, Barley, Dates and Raisins

1872. Zakat on wheat, barley, dates and raisins becomes obligatory when their quantity reaches the taxable limit which is 300 saa' and it is said that it equals 847 kg.

1873. If a person and members of his family consume the grapes, dates, barley and wheat, on which payment of Zakat has become obligatory, or if, for example, he gives these things to a poor person without the intention of paying Zakat, he should give Zakat on the quantity used.

1874. If the owner of wheat, barley, dates and grapes dies after Zakat on it has become obligatory, that quantity of Zakat should be paid from of his estate. However, if he dies before Zakat becomes obligatory, each one of his heirs, whose share reaches the taxable limit, should pay Zakat from his own share.

1875. A person, who has been appointed by the Mujtahid to collect Zakat, can demand it at the time of harvest when wheat and barley are threshed and chaff is separated from grains, and when the dates and grapes become dry. And if the owner of these items does not give Zakat, and they perish, the owner should compensate for it.

1876. If payment of Zakat becomes obligatory on date tree and grapes or the crop of wheat and barley after one becomes its owner, one should pay Zakat on them.

1877. If a person sells the crop and trees after Zakat on wheat, barley, palm-dates and grapes becomes obligatory, the seller should pay the Zakat on them, and if he pays, it will not be obligatory on the buyer to pay anything.

1878. If a person purchases wheat or barley or dates or grapes, and knows that the seller has paid Zakat on them, or doubts whether or not he has paid it, it is not obligatory on him (i.e. the buyer) to pay anything. But if he knows that he (the seller) has not paid Zakat on them, he should pay Zakat himself. But if the seller cheats him by telling him that he has not paid Zakat, he can reclaim from the seller the Zakat, if he has paid it.

1879. If the weight of wheat, barley, dates and grapes is about 847 kilograms when they are wet, and reduces when they become dry, payment of Zakat on it is not obligatory.

1880. If a person disposes of wheat, barley and dates before the time of drying up, and if they reach the taxable limit after they have dried up, he should pay Zakat on them.

1881. There are three kinds of dates:

1. Those which are dried up. Rules regarding the Zakat payable on them have already been explained above.

2. Those which are eaten when they are ripe.

3. Those which are eaten before they are ripened.

As for the second kind, if its weight comes to 847 kilograms after having dried up, Zakat on it becomes obligatory as a recommended precaution. And as for the third kind, Zakat on it is not obligatory.

1882. If a person has paid Zakat once on wheat, barley, dates and raisins, no further Zakat is payable on it, even if they remain with him for a few years.

1883. If wheat, barley, dates and grapes are watered with rain or river, or if they benefit from the moisture of the land, like in the case of Eygptian crops, the Zakat payable on them is 10% and if they are watered with buckets etc. the Zakat payable on them is 5%.

1884. If wheat, barley, dates and grapes are watered with both rain water as well as water supplied with buckets etc. and if it is commonly said that they have been irrigated with bucket water etc. the Zakat payable on them is 5% and if it is said that they have been irrigated with river and rain water, the Zakat payable on them is 10%; and if it is commonly said that they have been irrigated jointly with both, the Zakat payable on them is 7.5%.

1885. If a person doubts about the common impression, not able to determine whether the crop was watered by rain alone, or by rain and buckets together, it will be sufficient for him to pay 7.5% Zakat.

1886. If a person doubts and does not know whether it will be customarily held that the land was irrigated both ways, or that it has been watered with buckets etc. it will be sufficient for him to pay 5%. And the position will be the same if the common opinion would probably be that it was irrigated with rain water.

1887. If wheat, barley, dates and grapes are irrigated with rain and canal water and, although they did not need bucket water, yet it was also supplied, with no helpful result for the crop, the Zakat on them is 10%. And if they are watered with bucket water, without having any need of canal and rain water, but are also supplied with canal and rain water without being helpful to the crop, the Zakat on them is 5%.

1888. If a crop is watered with bucket etc. and in the adjoining land he raises a crop which benefits from the moisture of that land (which is irrigated with bucket water etc.) and does not need extra watering, the Zakat of the crop which is watered with bucket is 5% and the Zakat of the crop in the adjoining land, as a precaution is 10%.

1889. A person cannot deduct the expenses incurred by him on the production of wheat, barley, dates and grapes from the income obtained from them, in order to determine the minimum taxable limit. Hence if the weight of any one of them, before calculating the expenses, was about 847 kilograms, he should pay Zakat on it.

1890. A person who has used seeds for farming, whether he owned them or he bought them, cannot deduct their value from the total harvest for calculating the minimum taxable limit. Rather, he should calculate the taxable limit taking into account the entire crop.

1891. It is not obligatory to pay Zakat on what government takes away from the goods or wealth itself. For example, if the harvest is 2000 kilograms, and government takes 50 kilograms from it as taxation, it is obligatory to pay zakat on 1950 kilograms only.

1892. As an obligatory precaution, a person cannot deduct from the harvest the expenses incurred by him before Zakat became due, paying Zakat on the balance only.

1893. As for the expenses incurred after Zakat becomes obligatory, a person cannot deduct them from the amount of the Zakat liable on him, even if, as a precaution, he may have sought permission from the Mujtahid or his Wakil.

1894. It is not obligatory for a person to wait till wheat and barley pile up for threshing, and the grapes and dates become dry, before paying Zakat. It is permissible that as soon as payment of Zakat becomes due, he should calculate the amount of Zakat and pay.

1895. After Zakat becomes payable, a person can hand-over the standing crops, or dates or grapes, before their being harvested or picked, to the deserving poor, or to the Mujtahid or his Wakil, on the basis of joint ownership, and then make them share the expenses.

1896. When a person hand-overs Zakat of crops or dates or grapes in their essential forms to the Mujtahid or his Wakil, or to the deserving poor person, it is not necessary for him to look after those things as a joint owner, free of charge. He can charge them rental as long as these things remain on his land for harvesting and drying up.

1897. If a person owns wheat, barley, dates and grapes in various cities, where the time of ripening of crops and fruits differ from one another, and they are not all received at one time, if all of them are considered to be the harvest of one and the same year, and if the thing which ripens first reaches the taxable limit i.e. 847 kilograms (approx.), he should pay Zakat on it at the time of its ripening and should pay Zakat on the remaining crops when they are received .
But if the crop which is ready first, does not reach the minimum taxable limit, he should wait till other crops are ready. If they totally reach the taxable limit, Zakat on them will be obligatory, otherwise Zakat will not be obligatory on them.

1898. If a date tree or vine bears fruit twice in a year, and when combined they reach the minimum taxable limit, it is obligatory as a precaution, to pay its Zakat.

1899. If a person has a quantity of dates or grapes which have not dried up, and which would reach the taxable limit when dried up, he can replace them with fresh fruits (i.e. dates and grapes) with the purpose of giving Zakat, provided that, if they were dry they would be equal to the obligatory amount of Zakat.

1900. If it is already obligatory on a person to pay Zakat on dry dates or raisins, he cannot replace it with fresh, green dates or grapes. And, if he calculates the value of Zakat and gives green grapes or dates or other dry raisins or dates against that value, it is a matter of Ishkal.
Also, if it is obligatory on a person to pay Zakat on green dates or grapes, he cannot pay it with dry dates or raisins, And, if after calculating the value of Zakat, he pays it from other dates or grapes, it will be a matter of Ishkal even if the other dates and grapes were green and fresh.

1901. If a person dies with a debt, and has a property on which Zakat has become due, it is necessary that, in the first instance, the entire Zakat should be paid out from that property, and thereafter pay his debt.

1902. If a person dies with a debt and also has wheat, barley, dates or grapes, and, before Zakat on these things became obligatory, his heirs paid his debt from other property, the heir, whose share equals to 847 kilograms (approx.) should pay Zakat. And if the debts of the deceased was not paid before Zakat on these things became obligatory, and if his estate just equals his debt, it is not obligatory for the heirs to pay any Zakat.
And if the property of the deceased is more than his debt, and if the debt calls for payment from a quantity of wheat, barley ,dates and grapes, then whatever is paid towards the debt will have no liability of Zakat. In the residue, whoever from the heir receives a share equal to the minimum taxable limit, should pay Zakat.

1903. If wheat, barley, dates and raisins on which Zakat has become obligatory, are of good quality and inferior quality, the obligatory precaution is that Zakat for each of the two categories should be given separately from its respective type.