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The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Allah, the Exalted, says: ‘I will contend on the Day of Resurrection against three (types of) people: One who makes a covenant in My Name and then breaks it; one who sells a free man as a slave and devours his price; and one who hires a workman and having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages.”‘[Al- Bukhari].

The Prophet said, “Allah says, ‘I will be against three persons on the Day of Resurrection: -1. One who makes a covenant in My Name, but he proves treacherous. -2. One who sells a free person (as a slave) and eats the price, -3. And one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him but does not pay him his wages.’ “

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever hires a worker should pay him his wages in full.” [Reported by ‘Abdur-Razzaq, and it has Inqita’ (a break) in it’s chain of narrators. al-Baihaqi reported it Mawsul (unbroken chain) through the narration of Abu Hanifah].

We will pay his wages ourselves

Yahya related to me that Malik said, “A man does not have to pay zakat for the slaves of his slaves, or for some one employed by him, or for his wife’s slaves, except for anyone who serves him and whose services are indispensable to him, in which case he must pay zakat. He does not have to pay zakat for any of his slaves that are kafir and have not become muslim, whether they be for trade or otherwise.”

Concerning the statement of Allah, the Most High: The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger. “This Verse was revealed concerning the idolators. Whoever among them repents before he is captured, you have no way against him. This Verse does not apply to the Muslims. Whoever kills, spreads mischief in the land, and wages war against Allah and His Messenger, then joins the disbelievers before he can be caught, there is nothing to prevent the Hadd punishment being carried out on him because of what he did.”

(Allah (SWT) says:) “I am the opponent of three on the Day of Resurrection, and if I am someone’s opponent I will defeat him: A man who makes promises in My Name, then proves treacherous; a man who sells a free man and consumes his price; and a man who hires a worker, makes use to him, then does not give him his wages.”

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote to his governors telling them to relieve any people who payed the jizya from paying the jizya if they became muslims. Malik said, “The sunna is that there is no jizya due from women or children of people of the Book, and that jizya is only taken from men who have reached puberty. The people of dhimma and the magians do not have to pay any zakat on their palms or their vines or their crops or their livestock. This is because zakat is imposed on the muslims to purify them and to be given back to their poor, whereas jizya is imposed on the people of the Book to humble them. As long as they are in the country they have agreed to live in, they do not have to pay anything on their property except the jizya. If, however, they trade in muslim countries, coming and going in them, a tenth is taken from what they invest in such trade. This is because jizya is only imposed on them on conditions, which they have agreed on, namely that they will remain in their own countries, and that war will be waged for them on any enemy of theirs, and that if they then leave that land to go anywhere else to do business they will haveto pay a tenth. Whoever among them does business with the people of Egypt, and then goes to Syria, and then does business with the people of Syria and then goes to Iraq and does business with them and then goes on to Madina, or Yemen, or other similar places, has to pay a tenth. People of the Book and magians do not have to pay any zakat on any of their property, livestock, produce or crops. The sunna still continues like that. They remain in the deen they were in, and they continue to do what they used to do. If in any one year they frequently come and go in muslim countries then they have to pay a tenth every time they do so, since that is outside what they have agreed upon, and not one of the conditions stipulated for them. This is what I have seen the people of knowledge of our city doing.”

My uncle sent me and his slave to Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab. We said to him, there is something which has reached us about sharecropping. He replied: Ibn Umar did not see any harm in it until a tradition reached him from Rafi’ ibn Khadij. He then came to him and Rafi’ told him that the Messenger of Allah (saws) came to Banu Harithah and saw crop in the land of Zuhayr. He said: What an excellent crop of Zuhayr is! They said: It does not belong to Zuhayr. He asked: Is this not the land of Zuhayr? They said: Yes, but the crop belongs to so-and-so. He said: Take your crop and give him the wages. Rafi’ said: We took our crop and gave him the wages. Sa’id (ibn al-Musayyab) said: Lend your brother or employ him for dirhams.

The verse “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite side or exile from the land…most merciful” was revealed about polytheists. If any of them repents before they are arrested, it does not prevent from inflicting on him the prescribed punishment which he deserves.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:” When a person does not pay what is due to Allah or Sadaqa of his camels….” The rest of the hadith is the same.

Yahya said that Malik said, “The position with us concerning a man who has zakat to pay on one hundred camels but then the zakat collector does not come to him until zakat is due for a second timeand by that time all his camels have died except five, is that the zakat collector assesses from the five camels the two amounts of zakat that are due from the owner of the animals, which in this case is only two sheep, one for each year. This is because the only zakat which an owner of livestock has to pay is what is due from him on the day that the zakat is (actually) assessed. His livestock may have died or it may have increased, and the zakat collector only assesses the zakat on what he (actually) finds on the day he makes the assessment. If more than one payment of zakat is due from the owner of the livestock, he still only has to pay zakat according to what the zakat collector (actually) finds in his possession, and if his livestock has died, or several payments of zakat are due from him and nothing is taken until all his livestock has died, or has been reduced to an amount below that on which he has to pay zakat, then he does not have to pay any zakat, and there is no liability (on him) for what has died or for the years that have passed.

Malik said, “The best of what I have heard about a mukatab who injures a man so that blood-money must be paid, is that if the mukatab can pay the blood-money for the injury with his kitaba, he does so, and it is against his kitaba. If he cannot do that, and he cannot pay his kitaba because he must pay the blood-money of that injury before the kitaba, and he cannot pay the blood-money of that injury, then his master has an option. If he prefers to pay the blood-money of that injury, he does so and keeps his slave and he becomes an owned slave. If he wishes to surrender the slave to the injured, he surrenders him. The master does not have to do more than surrender his slave.” Malik spoke about people who were in a general kitaba and one of them caused an injury which entailed blood-money. He said, “If any of them does an injury involving blood-money, he and those who are with him in the kitaba are asked to pay all the blood-money of that injury. If they pay, they are confirmed in their kitaba. If they do not pay, and they are incapable then their master has an option. If he wishes, he can pay all the blood-money of that injury and all the slaves revert to him. If he wishes, he can surrender the one who did the injury alone and all the others revert to being his slaves since they could not pay the blood-money of the injury which their companion caused.” Malik said, “The way of doing things about which there is no dispute among us, is that when a mukatab is injured in some way which entails blood-money or one of the mukatab’s children who is written with him in the kitaba is injured, their blood-money is the blood-money of slaves of their value, and what is appointed to them as their blood-money is paid to the master who has the kitaba and he reckons that for the mukatab at the end of his kitaba and there is a reduction for the blood-money that the master has taken for the injury.” Malik said, “The explanation of that is say, for example, he has written his kitaba for three thousand dirhams and the blood-money taken by the master for his injury is one thousand dirhams. When the mukatab has paid his master two thousand dirhams he is free. If what remains of his kitaba is one thousand dirhams and the blood-money for his injury is one thousand dirhams, he is free straightaway. If the blood-money of the injury is more than what remains of the kitaba, the master of the mukatab takes what remains of his kitaba and frees him. What remains after the payment of the kitaba belongs to the mukatab. One must not pay the mukatab any of the blood- money of his injury in case he might consume it and use it up. If he could not pay his kitaba completely he would then return to his master one eyed, with a hand cut off, or crippled in body. His master only wrote his kitaba against his property and earnings, and he did not write his kitaba so that he would take the blood-money for what happened to his child or to himself and use it up and consume it. One pays the blood-money of injuries to a mukatab and his children who are born in his kitaba, or their kitaba is written, to the master and he takes it into account for him at the end of his kitaba.”

“The Prophet would not pray for a man who owed a debt. A deceased person was brought to him and he said: ‘Does he owe any debt?’ They said: ‘Yes, he owes two Dinars.’ He said: ‘Pray for your companion.’ Abu Qatadah said: ‘I will pay them, O Messenger of Alllah, So he prayed for him. Then, when Allah made His Messenger rich though conquest, he said: ‘ I am closer to each believer than his own self. Whoever leaves behind a debt, I will pay it, and whoever leaves behind wealth, it is for his heirs.”

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that he had asked Sulayman ibn Yasar whether zakat was due from a man who had wealth in hand but also owed a debt for the same amount, and he replied, “No.” Malik said, “The position that we are agreed upon concerning a debt is that the lender of it does not pay zakat on it until he gets it back. Even if it stays with the borrower for a number of years before the lender collects it, the lender only has to pay zakat on it once. If he collects an amount of the debt which is not zakatable, and has other wealth which is zakatable, then what he has collected of the debt is added to the rest of his wealth and he pays zakat on the total sum.” Malik continued, “If he has no ready money other than that which he has collected from his debt, and that does not reach a zakatable amount, then he does not have to pay any zakat. He must, however, keep a record of the amount that he has collected and if, later, he collects another amount which, when added to what he has already collected, brings zakat into effect, then he has to pay zakat on it.” Malik continued, “Zakat is due on this first amount, together with what he has further collected of the debt owed to him, regardless of whether or not he has used up what he first collected. If what he takes back reaches twenty dinars of gold, or two hundred dirhams of silver he pays zakat on it. He pays zakat on anything else he takes back afte rthat, whether it be a large or small amount, according to the amount.” Malik said, “What shows that zakat is only taken once from a debt which is out of hand for some years before it is recovered is that if goods remain with a man for trading purposes for some years before he sells them, he only has to pay zakat on their prices once. This is because the one who is owed the debt, or owns the goods, should not have to take the zakat on the debt, or the goods, from anything else, since the zakat on anything is only taken from the thing itself, and not from anything else.” Malik said, “Our position regarding some onewho owes a debt, and has goods which are worth enough to pay off the debt, and also has an amount of ready money which is zakatable, is that he pays the zakat on the ready money which he has to hand. If, however, he only has enough goods and ready money to pay off the debt, then he does not have to pay any zakat. But if the ready money that he has reaches a zakatable amount over and above the amount of the debt that he owes, then he must pay zakat on it.”

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, “The sunna with us about the crime of slaves is that the hand is not cut off for any harm that a slave causes a man, or something he pilfers, or something guarded which he steals, or hanging dates he cuts down or ruins, or steals. That is against the slave’s person and does not exceed the price of the slave whether it is little or much. If his master wishes to give the value of what the slave took or ruined, or pay the blood-price for the injury, he pays it and keeps his slave. If he wishes to surrender him, he surrenders him, and none of that is against him. The master has the option in that.”

Malik said about a man who had his slave in a kitaba and then the mukatab died and left his umm walad, and there remained for him some of his kitaba to pay and he left what would pay it, “The umm walad is a slave since the mukatab was not freed until he died and he did not leave children that were set free by his paying what remained, so that the umm walad of their father was freed by their being set free.” Malik said about a mukatab who set free a slave of his or gave sadaqa with some of his property and his master did not know that until he had set the mukatab free, “That has been performed by him and the master does not rescind it. If the master of the mukatab knows before he sets the mukatab free, he can reject that and not permit it. If the mukatab is then freed and it becomes in his power to do so, he does not have to free the slave, nor give the sadaqa unless he does it voluntarily from himself.”

“If Allah gives a person wealth and he does not pay Zakah on it, his wealth will appear to him on the Day of Resurrection as a bald-heated Shuja’a with two dots above its eyes. It will take hold of the corners of his mouth on the Day of Resurrection and will say: ‘I am your wealth, I am your hoarded treasure.’ The he recited this verse: ‘And let not those who covetously withhold of that which Allah has bestowed on them of His Bounty (wealth) and think that it is good for them (and so they do not pay the obligatory Zakah).”‘

“The Messenger of Allah said: The one who does not pay Zakah on his wealth, his wealth will appear to him on the Day of Resurrection like a bald-headed Shuja ‘a [2] with two dots above its eyes. It will hold onto him or encircle him and will say: I am your hoarded treasure, I am your hoarded treasure.”‘

“Whoever frees his share of a slave or part of his share, must pay from his wealth if he has any wealth if he has any wealth (in order to buy the rest of the slave’s freedom). If he does not have wealth, then the slave should be asked to work for the price (of his freedom), without that causing him too much hardship.”

He reported God s messenger as saying, “If God gives anyone property and he does not pay the zakat on it, his property will be made to appear to him on the day of resurrection as a large bald snake with black spots over its eyes. It will be put round his neck on the day of resurrection, then seize his lihzamatani, i.e. his jaws, then say, ‘I am your property; I am your treasure’.” He then recited, “Let not those who are niggardly think…”* Bukhari transmitted it. * Quran 3:180

The Prophet said, “Whoever manumits his share of a jointly possessed slave, it is imperative for him to get that slave manumitted completely by paying the remaining price, and if he does not have sufficient money to manumit him, then the price of the slave should be estimated justly, and he is to be allowed to work and earn the amount that will manumit him (without overburdening him)”.

The Prophet said, “Allah said, ‘I will be an opponent to three types of people on the Day of Resurrection: -1. One who makes a covenant in My Name, but proves treacherous; -2. One who sells a free person and eats his price; and -3. One who employs a laborer and takes full work from him but does not pay him for his lab our.’ “

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Umar from Sulayman ibn Yasar from Irak ibn Malik from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A muslim does not have to pay any zakat on his slave or his horse.”

the Messenger of Allah said: “There is no one who does not pay Zakat on his wealth but a bald headed snake will be made to appear to him on the Day of Resurrection, until it encircles his neck.” Then the messenger of Allah recited the following Verse from the Book of Allah the Most High: “And let not those who covetously withhold of that which Allah had bestowed on them of His Bounty(wealth) think that is good for them”

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, “What is done in our community about a man who refers a creditor to another man for the debt he owes him is that if the one referred to goes bankrupt or dies, and does not leave enough to pay the debt, then the creditor has nothing against the one who referred him and the debt does not return to the first party.” Malik said, “This is the way of doing things about which there is no dispute in our community.” Malik said, “If a man has his debt to somebody taken on for him by another man and then the man who took it on dies or goes bankrupt, then whatever was taken on by him returns to the first debtor.”

Malik said, “If people are together in one kitaba, their master cannot free one of them without consulting his companions who are with him in the kitaba and obtaining their consent. If they are young, however, their consultation means nothing and it is not permitted to them. That is because a man might work for all the people and he might pay their kitaba for them to complete their freedom. Their master approaches the one who will pay for them and their rescue from slavery is through him. He frees him and so makes those who remain unable to pay. He does it intending benefit and increase for himself. It is not permitted for him to do that to those of them who remain. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There must be no harm nor return of harm.’ This is the most severe harm.” Malik said about slaves who wrote a kitaba together that it was permitted for their master to free the old and exhausted of them and the young when neither of them could pay anything, and there was no help nor strength to be had from any of them in their kitaba.

Allah’s Apostle said, “Anyone whom Allah has given wealth but he does not pay its Zakat, then, on the Day of Resurrection, his wealth will be presented to him in the shape of a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two poisonous glands in its mouth and it will encircle itself round his neck and bite him over his cheeks and say, “I am your wealth; I am your treasure.” Then the Prophet recited this Divine Verse:– “And let not those who covetously withhold of that which Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty.” (3.180)

The owner of a camel who does not pay what is due on it (would be punished in this way) that on the Day of Resurrection many more (along with his camel) would come and the owner would be made to sit on a soft sandy ground and they would trample him with their feet and hooves. And no owner of the cattle who does not pay what is due on them (would be spared the punishment) but on the Day of Resurrection, many more would come and he (the owner) would be made to sit on the soft sandy ground and would be gored by their horns and trampled under their feet. And no owner of the goats and sheep who does not pay what is due on them (would be spared of punishment) but many more would come on the Day of Resurrection and he (the owner) would be made to sit on a soft sandy ground and they would gore him with their horns and trample him under their hooves. And there would be more (among this flock of sheep and goat) without horns or with broken horns. And no owner of the treasure who does not pay its due but his treasure would come on the Day of Resurrection like a bald snake and would pursue him with its mouth open, and when it would come near he would run away from it, and he would be called thus:” Take your treasure which you concealed, for I do not need it.” When he would find no way out he would put his hand in its mouth and it would gnaw it like a he-camel. Abu Zubair said: We heard Ubaid b. Umair saying this. We then asked Jabir b. ‘Abdullah about this. And he also said like Ubaid b. Umair, Abu Zubair said: I heard ‘Ubaid b. ‘Umair saying: A man said: Messenger of Allah, what is due on camels? He said: Milking them near water, and lending of bucket (used for drawing water from it), or lending its male for mating with a she-camel and providing it as a ride for the sake of Allah.

Malik said, “If a man has four awsuq of dates he has harvested, four awsuq of grapes he has picked, or four awsuq of wheat he has reaped or four awsuq of pulses he has harvested, the different categories are not added together, and he does not have to pay zakat on any of the categ ries – the dates, the grapes, the wheat or the pulses – until any one of them comes to five awsuq using the sa of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There is no zakat (to pay) on anything less than five awsuq of dates. ‘lf any of the categories comes to five awsuq, then zakat must be paid. If none of the categories comes to five awsuq, then there is no zakat to pay. The explanation of this is that when a man harvests five awsuq of dates (from his palms), he adds them all together and deducts the zakat from them even if they are all of different kinds and varieties. It is the same with different kinds of cereal, such as brown wheat, white wheat, barley and sult, which are all considered as one category. If a man reaps five awsuq of any of these, he adds it all together and pays zakat on it. If it does not come to that amount he does not have to pay any zakat. It is the same (also) with grapes, whether they be black or red. If a man picks five awsuq of them he has to pay zakat on them, but if they do not come to that amount he does not have to pay any zakat. Pulses also are considered as one category, like cereals, dates and grapes, even if they are of different varieties and are called by different names. Pulses include chick- peas, lentils, beans, peas, and anything which is agreed by everybody to be a pulse. If a man harvests five awsuq of pulses, measuring by the aforementioned sa, the sa of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he collects them all together and must pay zakat on them, even if they are of every kind of pulse and not just one kind.” Malik said, ”Umar ibn al-Khattab drew a distinction between pulses and wheat when he took zakat from the Nabatean christians. He considered all pulses to be one category and took a tenth from them, and from cereals and raisins he took a twentieth.” Malik said, “If some one asks, ‘How can pulses be added up all together when assessing the zakat so that there is just one payment, when a man can barter two of one kind for one of another, while cereals can not be bartered at a rate of two to one?’, then tell him, ‘Gold and silver are collected together when assessing the zakat, even though an amount of gold dinars can be exchanged for many times tha tamount of silver dirhams.’ ” Malik said, regarding date palms which are shared equally between two men, and from which eight awsuq of dates are harvested, “They do not have to pay any zakat on them. If one man owns five awsuq of what is harvested from one piece of land, and the other owns four awsuq or less, the one who owns the five awsuq has to pay zakat, and the other one, who harvested four awsuq or less, does not have to pay zakat. This is how things are done whenever there are associates in any crop, whether the crop is grain or seeds that are reaped, or dates that are harvested, or grapes that are picked . Any one of them that harvests five awsuq of dates, or picks five awsuq of grapes, or reaps five awsuq of wheat, has to pay zakat, and whoever’s portion is less than five awsuq does not have to pay zakat. Zakat only has to be paid by someone whose harvesting or picking or reaping comes to five awsuq.” Malik said, “The sunna with us regarding anything from any of these categories, i.e. wheat, dates, grapes and any kind of grain o rseed, which has had the zakat deducted from it and is then stored by its owner for a number of years after he has paid the zakat on it until he sell sit, is that he does not have to pay any zakat on the price he sells it for until a year has elapsed over it from the day he made the sale, as long as he got it through (chance) acquisition or some other means and it was not intended for trading. Cereals, seeds and trade-goods are the same, in that if a man acquires some and keeps them for a number of years and then sells them for gold or silver, he does not have to pay zakat on their price until a year has elapsed over it from the day of sale. If, however, the goods were intended for trade then the owner must pay zakat on them when he sells them, as long as he has had them for a year from the day when he paid zakat on the property with which he bought them.”

Abu Hurairah reported that Messenger of Allah (SWAS) as saying If any owner of treasure (gold and silver) does not pay what is due on it, Allah will make it heated in the Hell fire on the Day of Judgment, and his side, forehead and back will be cauterized with it until Allah gives His Judgment among mankind during a day whose extent will be fifty thousand years of your count and he sees whether his path is to take him to Paradise or to Hell. If any owner does not pay zakat on them, the sheep wilkl appear on the Day or Judgment most strong and in great number, a soft sandy plain will be spread out for them ; they will gore him with their horns and trample him with their hoofs; there will be none of them with twisted horns or without horns. As often as the last of them passes him, the first of them will be brought back to him, until Allah pronounces His Judgment among mankind during a day whose extent will be fifty thousand years that you count, and he sees whether his path is to take him to Paradise or to Hell. If any owner of camels does not pay what is due on them, they will appear in on the Day or Judgment most strong and in great number, a soft sandy plain will be spread out for them ; they will gore him with their horns and trample him with their hoofs; there will be none of them with twisted horns or without horns. As often as the last of them passes him, the first of them will be brought back to him, until Allah pronounces His Judgment among mankind during a day whose extent will be fifty thousand years that you count, and he sees whether his path is to take him to Paradise or to Hell.

Malik spoke to me about a man who wrote a kitaba for his slave for gold or silver and stipulated against him in his kitaba a journey, service, sacrifice or similar, which he specified by its name, and then the mukatab was able to pay all his instalments before the end of the term. He said, “If he pays all his instalments and he is set free and his inviolability as a free man is complete, but he still has this condition to fulfil, the condition is examined, and whatever involves his person in it, like service or a journey etc., is removed from him and his master has nothing in it. Whatever there is of sacrifice, clothing, or anything that he must pay, that is in the position of dinars and dirhams, and is valued and he pays it along with his instalments, and he is not free until he has paid that along with his instalments.” Malik said, “The generally agreed-on way of doing things among us about which there is no dispute, is that a mukatab is in the same position as a slave whom his master will free after a service of ten years. If the master who will free him dies before ten years, what remains of his service goes to his heirs and his wala’ goes to the one who contracted to free him and to his male children or paternal relations.” Malik spoke about a man who stipulated against his mukatab that he could not travel, marry, or leave his land without his permission, and that if he did so without his permission it was in his power to cancel the kitaba. He said, “If the mukatab does any of these things it is not in the man’s power to cancel the kitaba. Let the master put that before the Sultan. The mukatab, however, should not marry, travel, or leave the land of his master without his permission, whether or not he stipulates that. That is because the man may write a kitaba for his slave for 100 dinars and the slave may have 1000 dinars or more than that. He goes off and marries a woman and pays her bride-price which sweeps away his money and then he cannot pay. He reverts to his master as a slave who has no property. Or else he may travel and his instalments fall due while he is away. He cannot do that and kitaba is not to be based on that. That is in the hand of his master. If he wishes, he gives him permission in that. If he wishes, he refuses it.”

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to pay the zakat al-fitr for those slaves of his that were at Wadi’l-Qura and Khaybar. Yahya related to me that Malik said, “The best that I have heard about the zakat al-fitr is that a man has to pay for every person that he is responsible for supporting and whom he must support. He has to pay forall his mukatabs, his mudabbars, and his ordinary slaves, whether they are present or absent, as long as they are muslim, and whether or not they are fortrade. However, he does not have to pay zakat on any of them that are not muslim.” Malik said, concerning a runaway slave, “I think that his master should pay the zakat fo rhim whether or not he knows where he is, if it has not been long since the slave ran away and his master hopes that he is still alive and will return. If it has been a long time since he ran away and his master has despaired of him returning then I do not think that he should pay zakat for him.’ Malik said, “The zakat al-fitr has to be paid by people living in the desert (i.e. nomadic people) just as it has to be paid by people living in villages (i.e. settled people), because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made the zakat al-fitr at the end of Ramadan obligatory on every muslim, whether freeman or slave, male or female.”

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.”

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “The best of people is a man who is holding his horse’s rein in the way of Allah (in Jihad) and is galloping towards the place wherever he hears a call for war or detects a note of danger; he goes on proceeding, seeking martyrdom or death wherever it is expected. And a man who retires with some sheep in a mountainside or a valley. He performs Salat regularly and pays the Zakat, continues worshipping his Rubb, till death overtakes him. He does not interfere in the affairs of the people except for betterment.”[Muslim].

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir say, “Allah loves his slave who is generous when he sells, and generous when he buys, generous when he repays, and generous when he is repaid.” Malik said about a man who bought camels or sheep or dry goods or slaves or any goods without measuring precisely, “There is no buying without measuring precisely in anything which can be counted . ” Malik said about a man who gave a man goods to sell for him and set their price saying, “If you sell them for this price as I have ordered you to do, you will have a dinar (or something which he has specified, which they are both satisfied with), if you do not sell them, you will have nothing,” “There is no harm in that when he names a price to sell them at and names a known fee. If he sells the goods, he takes the fee, and if he does not sell them, he has nothing.” Malik said, “This is like saying to another man, ‘If you capture my runaway slave or bring my stray camel, you will have such-and-such.’ This is from the category of reward, and not from the category of giving a wage. Had it been from the category of giving a wage, it would not be good.” Malik said, “As for a man who is given goods and told that if he sells them he will have a named percentage for every dinar, that is not good because whenever he is a dinar less than the price of the goods, he decreases the due which was named for him. This is an uncertain transaction. He does not know how much he will be given.”

Allah’s Apostle said, “On the Day of Resurrection the Kanz (Treasure or wealth of which, Zakat has not been paid) of anyone of you will appear in the shape of a huge bald headed poisonous male snake and its owner will run away from it, but it will follow him and say, ‘I am your Kanz.'” The Prophet added, “By Allah, that snake will keep on following him until he stretches out his hand and let the snake swallow it.” Allah’s Apostle added, “If the owner of camels does not pay their Zakat, then, on the Day of Resurrection those camels will come to him and will strike his face with their hooves.” Some people said: Concerning a man who has camels, and is afraid that Zakat will be due so he sells those camels for similar camels or for sheep or cows or money one day before Zakat becomes due in order to avoid payment of their Zakat cunningly! “He has not to pay anything.” The same scholar said, “If one pays Zakat of his camels one day or one year prior to the end of the year (by the end of which Zakat becomes due), his Zakat will be valid.”

Yahya related to me from Malik that it reached him that a slave of Abdullah ibn Umar escaped and one of his horses wandered off, and the idol worshippers seized them. Then the Muslims recaptured them, and they were returned to Abdullah ibn Umar, before the division of the spoils took place. I heard Malik say about muslim property that had been seized by the enemy, “If it is noticed before the distribution, then it is returned to itsowner. Whatever has already been distributed is not returned to anyone.” Malik, when asked about a man whose young male slave was taken by the idol worshippers and then the Muslims re-captured him, said, “The owner is more entitled to him without having to pay his price or value or having to incur any loss before the distribution takes place. If the distribution has already taken place then I think that the slave belongs to his master for his price if the master wants him back.” Regarding an umm walad of a Muslim man who has been taken by the idol worshippers and then recaptured by the Muslims and allotted in the distribution of spoils and then recognised by her master after the distribution, Malik said, “She is not to be enslaved. I think that the Imam should pay a ransom for her for her master. If he does not do it, then her master must pay a ransom for her and not leave her. I do not think that she should be made a slave by whoever takes her and intercourse with her is not halal. She is in the position of a free woman because her master would be required to pay compensation if she injured somebody and so she is in the same position (as a wife). He must not leave the mother of his son to be enslaved nor may intercourse with her be made halal.” Malik was asked about a man who went to enemy territory to pay ransom or to trade, and he bought a free man or a slave, or they were given to him. He said, “As for the free man, the price he buys him for is a debt against the man and he is not made a slave. If the captive is given to him freely, he is free and owes nothing unless the man gave something in recompense for him. That is a debt against the free man, the same as if a ransom had been paid for him. As for a slave, his former master can choose to take him back and pay his price to the man who bought him or he can choose to leave him, as he wishes. If he was given to the man, the former master is more entitled to him, and he owes nothing for him unless the man gave something for him in recompense. Whatever he gave for him is a loss against the master if he wants him back.”

No owner of camels or cattle or flock of sheep or goats who does not pay his due (would be spared punishment) but would be made to sit on the Day of Resurrection on a soft sandy ground and the hoofed animals would trample him with their hoofs and gore him with their horns. And none of them on that day would be without horns, or with broken horns. We said: Messenger of Allah, but what is due on them? He said: Lending of the male (for use) and lending of the bucket (used for drawing water for them) and for mating and milking them near water and providing them as a ride for the sake of Allah. And no owner of the property who does not pay Zakat (would be spared punishment) but it (his property) would turn into a bald snake and would follow its owner wherever he would go, and he would run away from it, and it would be said to him: That is your property about which you were stingy. And when he would find no other way out he would thrust his hand in its mouth and it would gnaw it like a male camel.

That he was sitting behind `Umar bin `Abdul `Aziz and the people mentioned and mentioned (about at-Qasama) and they said (various things), and said that the Caliphs had permitted it. `Umar bin `Abdul `Aziz turned towards Abu Qilaba who was behind him and said. “What do you say, O `Abdullah bin Zaid?” or said, “What do you say, O Abu Qilaba?” Abu Qilaba said, “I do not know that killing a person is lawful in Islam except in three cases: a married person committing illegal sexual intercourse, one who has murdered somebody unlawfully, or one who wages war against Allah and His Apostle.” ‘Anbasa said, “Anas narrated to us such-and-such.” Abu Qilaba said, “Anas narrated to me in this concern, saying, some people came to the Prophet and they spoke to him saying, ‘The climate of this land does not suit us.’ The Prophet said, ‘These are camels belonging to us, and they are to be taken out to the pasture. So take them out and drink of their milk and urine.’ So they took them and set out and drank of their urine and milk, and having recovered, they attacked the shepherd, killed him and drove away the camels.’ Why should there be any delay in punishing them as they murdered (a person) and waged war against Allah and His Apostle and frightened Allah’s Apostle ?” Anbasa said, “I testify the uniqueness of Allah!” Abu Qilaba said, “Do you suspect me?” ‘Anbasa said, “No, Anas narrated that (Hadith) to us.” Then ‘Anbasa added, “O the people of such-and-such (country), you will remain in good state as long as Allah keeps this (man) and the like of this (man) amongst you.”

I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “Three men from among those who were before you, set out together till they reached a cave at night and entered it. A big rock rolled down the mountain and closed the mouth of the cave. They said (to each other), Nothing could save you from this rock but to invoke Allah by giving reference to the righteous deed which you have done (for Allah’s sake only).’ So, one of them said, ‘O Allah! I had old parents and I never provided my family (wife, children etc.) with milk before them. One day, by chance I was delayed, and I came late (at night) while they had slept. I milked the sheep for them and took the milk to them, but I found them sleeping. I disliked to provide my family with the milk before them. I waited for them and the bowl of milk was in my hand and I kept on waiting for them to get up till the day dawned. Then they got up and drank the milk. O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only, please relieve us from our critical situation caused by this rock.’ So, the rock shifted a little but they could not get out.” The Prophet added, “The second man said, ‘O Allah! I had a cousin who was the dearest of all people to me and I wanted to have sexual relations with her but she refused. Later she had a hard time in a famine year and she came to me and I gave her one-hundred-and-twenty Dinars on the condition that she would not resist my desire, and she agreed. When I was about to fulfill my desire, she said: It is illegal for you to outrage my chastity except by legitimate marriage. So, I thought it a sin to have sexual intercourse with her and left her though she was the dearest of all the people to me, and also I left the gold I had given her. O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only, please relieve us from the present calamity.’ So, the rock shifted a little more but still they could not get out from there.” The Prophet added, “Then the third man said, ‘O Allah! I employed few laborers and I paid them their wages with the exception of one man who did not take his wages and went away. I invested his wages and I got much property thereby. (Then after some time) he came and said to me: O Allah’s slave! Pay me my wages. I said to him: All the camels, cows, sheep and slaves you see, are yours. He said: O Allah’s slave! Don’t mock at me. I said: I am not mocking at you. So, he took all the herd and drove them away and left nothing. O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only, please relieve us from the present suffering.’ So, that rock shifted completely and they got out walking.

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “There are three (types of) people with whom Allah will neither speak on the Day of Resurrection nor purify them (from sins) and there will be a painful chastisement for them: A person who has spare water in a desert and he refuses to give it to the traveller; a person who sells a commodity to another person after the afternoon prayer and swears by Allah that he has bought it at such and such price, and the buyer pays him accordingly though in reality it was not true; and a person who pledges allegiance to an Imam (leader) just for some worldly benefit, and then if the Imam bestows on him (something out of that) he fulfills his allegiance, and if does not give him, he does not fulfill it.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].