Muwatta Imam Malik 598

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Dinar said, "I heard Abdullah ibn Umar being asked what kanz was and he said, 'It is wealth on which zakat has not been paid

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had read what Umar ibn al- Khattab had written about zakat, and in it he found: "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the ompassionate." The Book of Zakat. On twenty-four camels or less zakat is paid with sheep, one ewe for every five camels. On anything above that, up to thirty-five camels, a she-camel in its second year, and, if there is no she camel in its second year, a male camel in its third year. On anything above that, up to forty-five camels, a she- camel in its third year. On anything above that, up to sixty camels, a she camel in its fourth year that is ready to be sired. On anything above that, up to seventy-five camels, a she-camel in its fifth year. On anything above that, up to ninety camels, two she-camels in their third year. On anything above that, up to one hundred and twenty camels, two she-camels in their fourth year that are ready to be sired. On any number of camels above that, for every forty camels, a she-camel in its third year, and for every fifty, a she-camel in its fourth year. On grazing sheep and goats, if they come to forty or more, up to one hundred and twenty head, one ewe. On anything above that, up to two hundred head, two ewes. On anything above that, up to three hundred, three ewes. On anything above that, for every hundred, one ewe. A ram should not be taken for zakat. nor an old or an injured ewe, except as the zakat-collector thinks fit. Those separated should not be gathered together nor should those gathered together be separated in order to avoid paying zakat. Whatever belongs to two associates is settled between them proportionately. On silver, if it reaches five awaq (two hundred dirhams), one fortieth is paid

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Zurayq ibn Hayyan, who was in charge of Egypt in the time of al-Walid, Sulayman, and Umar ibn Abd al-'Aziz, mentioned that Umar ibn Abd al- Aziz had written to him saying, "Assess the muslims that you come across and take from what is apparent of their wealth and whatever merchandise is in their charge, one dinar for every forty dinars, and the same proportion from what is less than that down to twenty dinars, and if the amount falls short of that by one third of a dinar then leave it and do not take anything from it. As for the people of the Book that you come across, take from the merchandise in their charge one dinar for every twenty dinars, and the same proportion from what is less than that down to ten dinars, and if the amount falls short by one third of a dinar leave it and do not take anything from it. Give them a receipt for what you have taken f rom them until the same time next year." Malik said, "The position among us (in Madina) concerning goods which are being managed for trading purposes is that if a man pays zakat on his wealth, and then buys goods with it, whether cloth, slaves or something similar, and then sells them before a year has elapsed over them, he does not pay zakat on that wealth until a year elapses over it from the day he paid zakat on it. He does not have to pay zakat on any of the goods if he does not sell them for some years, and even if he keeps them for a very long time he still only has to pay zakat on them once when he sells them." Malik said, "The position among us concerning a man who uses gold or silver to buy wheat, dates, or whatever, for trading purposes and keeps it until a year has elapsed over it and then sells it, is that he only has to pay zakat on it if and when he sells it, if the price reaches a zakatable amount. This is therefore not the same as the harvest crops that a man reaps from his land, or the dates that he harvests from his palms." Malik said, "A man who has wealth which he invests in trade, but which does not realise a zakatable profit for him, fixes a month in the year when he takes stock of what goods he has for trading, and counts the gold and silver that he has in ready money, and if all of it comes to a zakatable amount he pays zakat on it." Malik said, "The position is the same for muslims who trade and muslims who do not. They only have to pay zakat once in any one year, whether they trade in that year or not