Zakat: Obligations, Thresholds, and Distribution

The zakah chapters of Al-Majmu' represent some of the most practically important material in the work, as zakah — the obligatory annual alms — affects every Muslim of sufficient wealth. Al-Nawawi's treatment is comprehensive, covering the types of property subject to zakah, the thresholds (nisab) at which zakah becomes obligatory, the rates of payment, and the eight categories of recipients specified in the Quran.

Property Subject to zakah

Al-Nawawi identifies the main categories of property on which zakah is obligatory: (1) gold and silver (and by extension, currency); (2) trade goods (urud al-tijarah); (3) livestock — camels, cattle, and sheep/goats; (4) agricultural produce — grains and fruits; and (5) treasures found in the earth (rikaz). For each category, he specifies the conditions that make zakah obligatory: the property must reach the minimum threshold (nisab), must be owned outright and freely disposable, and must have been in the owner's possession for a full lunar year (hawl) — except for agricultural produce, where zakah is due at harvest regardless of the time of ownership.

The threshold for gold is twenty mithqals (approximately 85 grams by modern calculation), and for silver 200 dirhams (approximately 595 grams). For trade goods, the nisab is assessed by reference to the value of either gold or silver. The rates of zakah vary: 2.5% on gold, silver, and trade goods; a graduated scale on livestock depending on number and type; and 10% on rain-watered crops (or 5% on irrigated crops, reflecting the greater effort involved).

The Eight Categories of Recipients

Al-Nawawi's treatment of zakah distribution follows the Quranic verse (9:60) that specifies eight categories of recipients. He discusses each category in detail: (1) the poor (fuqara'), those who lack sufficient means; (2) the destitute (masakin), those who lack any means at all; (3) those employed to collect zakah (amilun alayha); (4) those whose hearts are to be reconciled (mu'allafat qulubuhum); (5) to free slaves (fi al-riqab); (6) those in debt (al-gharimun); (7) in the cause of God (fi sabil Allah); and (8) the wayfarer (ibn al-sabil).

A central debate in the Shafi'i school is whether zakah must be distributed among all eight categories or may be concentrated on one or a few. Al-Nawawi presents the position of the majority of Shafi'i scholars that when one is distributing local zakah oneself (rather than through a central authority), one must distribute to representatives of all present categories, and that it is not permissible to give all the zakah to a single person from a single category.

zakah al-Fitr

Al-Nawawi also covers zakah al-fitr, the obligatory charity given at the end of Ramadan. Unlike regular zakah, zakah al-fitr is a fixed amount per person — one sa' (approximately 3 kg) of the staple food of the region per Muslim under one's financial responsibility. It must be given before the Eid prayer on the day of Eid al-Fitr. Al-Nawawi discusses whether it may be given in cash (which the Shafi'i school generally does not allow, unlike the Hanafi school) and the rationale for requiring payment in food: it purifies the fasting person and provides direct sustenance to the poor at the time of celebration.