زكاة عروض التجارة عند المالكية

Abstract EN

It is well known that the two main currencies (gold and silver) are money that grows, and thus are subject to zakāh unless they are transformed into qunyah (privately owned property) such as permissible jewellery.

Originally, all properties are privately owned as long as they are not transformed into tradeable commodities that become subject to zakāh.

If these are not intended for private ownership nor for trade but for renting so as to generate incomes from them, such as buildings that one constructs or buys in order to generate rent from them, they remain in their original state of qunyah (privately owned property).There are two types of trader: speculator and manager.

The speculator is the one who awaits improved market conditions to sell when prices rise.

The seller pays zakāh for one year after receiving the price.

The manager, on the other hand, is the one who moves his money.

If he has a profession like a doctor, or a tailor who owns a sewing machine, the fees he receives are considered as māl mustafād (beneficial income).

However, if he owns a commodity that he buys and sells, his ḥawl (yearly deadline for payment of zakāh) starts from the day he owned the principal used for that purpose.

He pays zakāh after the completion of one year from the time he acquired it.

He will have to pay zakāh on it as follows: he should appraise the price of only the manufactured or semi-manufactured commodities available with him ready for selling in the market on the day when zakāh is due and he should estimate the value of commodities deferred for sale with present cash.

He should estimate that if he were to present the commodity for sale, he receives its price today and the buyer will receive the commodity on the delivery date.

This is its value.

These issues and others such as personal debt and their examples are dealt with in this article, according to the madhab (jurisprudence school) of Imam Malik (may Allah bless his soul).

The reason for the limiting scope of this paper is due to the fact that I did not come across a paper that gives the opinion about zakāh on tradable commodities according to the madhab of Imam Malik (may Allah’s mercy be upon him and other guided imams).