Zakat, Fasting, and Hajj in Al-Muharrar

The chapters of Al-Muharrar on zakah, sawm, and hajj demonstrate the Hanbali school's strong adherence to explicit textual evidence and its cautious approach to analogical extension.

On zakah, Majd al-Din follows the standard Hanbali positions: the five categories of zakatable wealth, their respective nisabs, rates, and conditions. The Hanbali school's treatment of zakah on honey — a category where the school differs from others in recognizing its zakatable status based on a specific hadith — illustrates the method: where a prophetic text exists, the Hanbali school follows it even if the analogy from the five main categories might not otherwise extend there. The nisab for honey in the Hanbali school is ten faraq (a unit of measure), with a rate of one-tenth.

The Hanbali school's rulings on zakah al-fitr are stated with characteristic attention to the specific sunnah practices. The amount due per person is one sa' of dates, barley, dried yogurt (aqit), or raisins — the food types mentioned in the hadith of Ibn Umar. The Hanbali school accepts wheat as a substitute based on the transmission of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, though the sa' remains the standard measure regardless of which staple food is used.

For sawm, Al-Muharrar covers the obligations and concessions of Ramadan fasting according to the Hanbali positions. On the beginning of Ramadan, the Hanbali school requires two witnesses for the moon sighting, in contrast to the Shafi'i acceptance of a single trustworthy witness. This stricter evidentiary standard reflects the Hanbali tendency to demand firm proof for legal obligations. Al-Muharrar states this plainly as the school's position.

The Hanbali school's position on the intentional breaking of the Ramadan fast requires the specific kaffarah only for the case of deliberate intercourse, not for deliberate eating or drinking. Majd al-Din states this clearly, aligning with the Shafi'i and Hanbali restriction of kaffarah to the most severe violation. Deliberate eating requires qada' only, while deliberate intercourse requires both qada' and kaffarah.

On hajj, the Hanbali school's preference for tamattu' is stated alongside the validity of all three forms. Al-Muharrar discusses the conditions of hajj's obligation, the miqat stations, the rites of ihram, and the sequence of rites from the 8th through the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah. The Hanbali school's position on the stoning of the jamarat — that it must be performed personally and cannot be delegated except for those physically unable — reflects the school's general insistence on personal performance of the pillar acts.