Zakat: Hanafi Rules on Obligatory Charity

The Hanafi school's approach to zakah in Al-Hidayah reflects its characteristic methodology: broad application of general principles from the Quran, a relatively expansive use of analogy (qiyas), and a strong tradition of systematizing the rulings into a coherent framework. Al-Marghinani presents the Hanafi zakah system with careful citation of Abu Hanifah's reasoning alongside the positions of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ash-Shaybani where they differ.

For gold and silver, the Hanafi school sets the same nisab as the other schools: 20 mithqals of gold and 200 dirhams of silver, at a rate of 2.5% after one lunar year of ownership. The distinctive Hanafi position is that gold and silver may be combined by monetary value to reach the nisab — if a person has 100 dirhams of silver and gold worth 100 dirhams, the combined value of 200 dirhams triggers the zakah obligation. The rationale is that both metals function as currency and share the same effective cause (illah) for their zakah obligation. This differs from the Shafi'i and Maliki positions requiring each to reach its own threshold independently.

For agricultural produce, the Hanafi school takes the most expansive position of all four schools. Abu Hanifah held that zakah (ushr) is due on all agricultural produce without restriction — whether grain, fruit, vegetable, or other crop — with no nisab threshold, based on his reading of the general Quranic command: 'Give its due on the day of its harvest' (6:141). The rate is 10% for rain-watered crops and 5% for artificially irrigated crops. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ash-Shaybani disagreed with their teacher, holding that a nisab of five wasqs applies and restricting ushr to crops capable of being stored — the majority position. However, the official Hanafi school doctrine follows Abu Hanifah's more expansive view.

For livestock, the Hanafi school follows the standard schedule from the prophetic letters, with one significant addition: Abu Hanifah held that horses kept by a Muslim for business purposes (not for personal use or military service) are subject to zakah, at either a flat rate of one dinar per horse or 2.5% of their value. This distinguishes the Hanafi and Maliki schools from the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools, which explicitly exclude horses based on the hadith: 'A Muslim is not obligated to pay zakah on his horse' (al-Bukhari, Muslim). The Hanafi school interprets this hadith as referring to horses kept for personal riding or military use, not for commercial purposes.

For trade goods, the Hanafi school requires 2.5% of market value after one year. The Hanafi school is more flexible than the Shafi'i school about when the trade intention must be formed — it does not require the intention to be present at the moment of acquisition.

On zakah recipients, the Hanafi school permits concentrating the entire zakah payment on a single recipient from one of the eight categories, unlike the Shafi'i school's requirement to distribute among all present categories. Al-Marghinani discusses the rationale: the eight categories in the Quran (9:60) are understood as a list of eligible recipients, not a mandatory distribution formula.

zakah al-fitr (the obligatory charity at the end of Ramadan) is held wajib (necessary, below the level of fard) in the Hanafi classification — the only school to make this distinction — and is set at one sa' of barley, dates, or raisins, or half a sa' of wheat. The Hanafi school uniquely permits paying zakah al-fitr in monetary value equivalent to the food amounts.