Zakat, Fasting, and Hajj in Al-Iqna

Al-Hajjawi's treatment of zakah, fasting, and hajj in Al-Iqna presents the Hanbali school's rulings on these three pillars of Islam in the clear, actionable format that made the text valuable as a practical legal guide.

zakah in Al-Iqna follows the Hanbali school's well-established positions on the categories of obligatory wealth. The nisab for gold is twenty mithqals and for silver two hundred dirhams; the 2.5% rate applies after a full lunar year. Al-Hajjawi presents the Hanbali school's distinctive position on honey: zakah of one-tenth is owed on honey production that reaches sixty ritls. This Hanbali ruling, based on the transmitted practice from early companions and specific prophetic reports, distinguishes the school from others that do not recognize honey as a zakah category.

The zakah al-fitr section in Al-Iqna requires payment in food — one sa' of the local staple grain or dried foodstuff per person — before the 'id prayer. The Hanbali school does not permit cash substitution, following the prophetic practice directly. Al-Hajjawi notes the obligation on the head of household to pay zakah al-fitr for his dependents, and the importance of paying it before the 'id prayer to fulfill the intended purpose of the obligation.

Fasting in Al-Iqna addresses the Hanbali school's positions on what breaks the fast, including the distinctive Hanbali ruling that cupping (hijamah) breaks the fast. This ruling is based on the prophetic hadith 'The cupper and the one being cupped have both broken their fast' which the Hanbali school treats as authoritative and not abrogated. Al-Hajjawi presents this as the settled Hanbali position that the student should know and practice.

The Hanbali school's requirement that the intention for Ramadan fasting be formed each night before dawn is presented in Al-Iqna as the correct practice. Al-Hajjawi also addresses the conditions under which breaking the fast is permitted — for travelers, the ill, the pregnant, and the nursing mother — and the requirements for making up missed days (qada') and paying expiation (kaffara) where applicable.

Hajj in Al-Iqna covers the Hanbali school's obligatory elements: ihram, standing at Arafah, tawaf al-ifadah, and the sa'y between Safa and Marwa (which the Hanbali school classifies as a pillar, rukn, not merely a required act). Al-Hajjawi presents the complete sequence of hajj rites with the Hanbali school's specific requirements for each, the sunnah acts associated with each rite, and the penalties (dam, fidyah) for omissions and violations.

The 'umrah (lesser pilgrimage) is also addressed in Al-Iqna. The Hanbali school holds that 'umrah is obligatory once in a lifetime for those capable, based on the same evidential basis as hajj. Al-Hajjawi presents the rites of 'umrah — ihram, tawaf, sa'y, and shaving or cutting the hair — and the Hanbali positions on their performance.