Zakat, Fasting, and Hajj: Four Schools Compared

The comparative approach of al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah yields particularly illuminating results in the chapters on zakah, sawm, and hajj, where the four schools exhibit significant differences that have real practical consequences for Muslim communities.

On zakah, the most significant inter-school difference presented in al-Qawanin concerns the nisab assessment for gold and silver. The Maliki and Hanafi schools combine gold and silver for the nisab calculation; the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools assess them separately. This difference can determine whether a person who has some gold and some silver but neither reaching its individual nisab is nonetheless subject to zakah.

The Maliki school's extension of kaffarah to all deliberate Ramadan fast nullifiers — compared to the Shafi'i and Hanbali restriction to intercourse only — is one of the most practically significant differences in fasting law. Ibn Juzayy presents this difference clearly: the Maliki position results in a much heavier legal consequence for any deliberate violation of the fast, not only the most severe form. The Hanafi school occupies a middle position, requiring kaffarah for eating and drinking deliberately in addition to intercourse, but not for other deliberate nullifiers.

On zakah on honey, the schools range widely. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools recognize zakah on honey as obligatory. The Maliki and Shafi'i schools do not recognize it, on the basis that the hadiths establishing it are either weak or not applicable in a binding way. Ibn Juzayy notes these differences with the evidential basis for each, illustrating how the same scholarly tradition can produce different legal conclusions on the same question.

For hajj, the most practically significant comparative point in al-Qawanin concerns the preferred form of ihram. The Maliki school's position varies among scholars, with many preferring tamattu'; the Shafi'i school prefers ifrad; the Hanbali school prefers tamattu'; the Hanafi school prefers qiran. All schools accept all three forms as valid. Ibn Juzayy presents these preferences with their evidential basis, showing that each school's preference reflects a different reading of the prophetic practice during the Farewell Pilgrimage.

The chapter on the dam (compensatory sacrifice) for tamattu' and qiran pilgrims reveals further differences. The schools agree that a sacrifice is required but differ on whether it is an obligation (Maliki, Hanafi) or merely recommended if one has the means (minority view). Ibn Juzayy's systematic presentation of these differences across the five chapters of worship gives students a comprehensive introduction to the landscape of inter-school legal diversity.