Thursday, June 16, 2016

Ushr

Meaning
 ‘Ushr is the obligatory charge (Zakat) on farm produce which is one-tenth for one kind of land and one-twentieth for others.
Shari’ah Injunction
 The Qur’an says :
 “O Believers !  expend in Allah’s way the best portion of the wealth you have earned and of what We have produced for you from the earth.” (2 : 267)
And elsewhere :
 “ and give away Allah’s due at the harvest time.”  (6 :141)
 The Commentators are agreed that this refers to ‘Ushr on farm produce.  Thus giving away of ‘Ushr on produce of the land is obligatory and [the] Hadith also has confirmed the same.  The Holy Prophet has said :
 “It is obligatory to give away one-tenth of the farm produce if the land is irrigated by spring or rain or river water naturally, and one-half of one tenth if it is irrigated by drawing out water from the well, etc.”
Rate [Amounts required] of ‘Ushr  If the farm or garden is watered naturally by rain or spring water, or river or stream water, [a] tenth part of the produce is obligatory, and if the farm or garden is irrigated by artificial means like the well, tube well, canals, etc. twentieth part is obligatory.
 One must take out the tenth or twentieth part of all kinds of produce at the time of harvest : it is not lawful to do so later when a portion of the crop has already been consumed.  Thus ‘Ushr has to be calculated and taken out from all kinds of corn, mustard grain, ground nuts, sugarcane, dates, dry fruits, etc., and also from fresh vegetables and fruits, like cucumber, carrot, turnip, melons, lemon, oranges, guava, mango, etc. 1  ‘Ushr is obligatory on honey as well.  The Holy Prophet has said : “Give away tenth part of honey”.  (Baithaqi)
 He has explained it thus :
 “One leather bag of honey out of every ten leather bags is obligatory”. (Tirmidhi) Hadrat Abu Siyadah has reported : “I went to the Holy Prophet and said, ‘O Prophet of Allah !  I have kept bees whereupon he instructed me to give away the tenth part”. 
 On the basis of these traditions, the Hanafites, the Ahl alHadith, Ahmad bin Hanba, Umar  bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz and others are agreed that one is subject to ‘Ushr.  Imam Shafei in one  of his sayings has expressed a similar opinion, and Ibn ‘Umar and Ibn ‘Abbas from among the Companions have also supported the same view. Regulations Concerning ‘Ushr
1. ‘Ushr has to be taken out from the total produce and after that other charges of agriculture in the way of ploughing, watering, supervision, etc. will be met.
2. The produce becomes subject to ‘Ushr as soon as the crop becomes fit for use in any form, e.g. the gram, maize, mango etc. become sable even before they are ripe; “ushr therefore has to be calculated before the crop is put to private use in any way
3. If a person sells away a crop or garden before the fruit is ripe, ‘Ushr will be the responsibility of the buyer, but if it is sold after the fruit has become ripe, ‘Ushr will be paid by the seller.
4. Payment of ‘ushr is the responsibility of the cultivator of the land whether he has taken it on lease of borrowed it for a short period.
5. If two persons are jointly cultivating a piece of land, both will have to share the ‘Ushr whether the expenses of seed, etc. have been borne buy one or both.
6. There is no condition of Nisab for ‘Ushr to be obligatory : ‘Ushr is obligatory irrespective of the quantity of produce, unless it is in negligible quantity, e.g., 2 kilos or so.
7. There is no condition of the passage of a year either : each crop is subject to ‘Ushr, whether it is harvested once a year or twice a year.
8. ‘Ushr is levyable on the produce of lands owned by minors and insane persons.
9. Waaf lands are also subject to ‘ushr, which will be paid away by the cultivator.
10. If a piece of land is irrigated naturally as well as by artificial means, this fact will be taken into account while calculating ‘ushr.  If the land has been irrigated naturally more often, ‘Ushr will be one-tenth , otherwise one-twentieth.
11.‘Ushr may be paid out in kind or in cash of equivalent value.
12. Lands in possession of the Muslims living in non-Muslim states ae subject to ‘Ushr.  (Fatawa Deoband, Vol. III, p.18)
13. ‘Ushr is not annulled by the payment of land revenue.
14. The heads of expenditure of ‘Ushr are the same as of Zakat.
The Hidden Treasure
 This may be minerals or some other treasure hidden in the earth.  Regulations concerning it are briefly as follows :
1. According to Hadith, one-fifth of a treasure, which is unearthed, belongs to the Public Treasury (Bait-ul-Mal).
2. In case of minerals like iron, silver, gold, tin or sulphur, etc. one fifth will be handed in to the Public Treasury and four-fifth will be handed in to the Public Treasury and four-fifths will be retained by the mine owner.
3. There is no share of the Bait-ul-Mal in those things which do not melt in the fire, e.g. diamonds, gems, etc.  Similarly minerals in liquid state like petroleum, mercury, etc. are exempt from ‘Ushr duty.


NOTES According to some jurists, ‘ushr is not obligatory on those vegetables and fruits which are not stored, but if the grower sells them in the market, he will have to pay Zakat as on other trade goods if he trade capital amounts up to the Nisab limit of 200 dirhams or more in the beginning and the end of the trade
Imam Malik and  Hadrat Sufyan opine that there is no ‘Ushr on honey and Imam Shafe’ also has supported this view
According to Imam Bukhari, no Hadith relating to Zakat on honey is authentic.  Baihaqi has reported that a person brought his ‘Ushr of honey before he Holy Prophet and requested that arrangements be made for the protection of the Siblah forest and the Holy Prophet made the necessary arrangements.  In the Caliphate of Hadrat ‘Umar, Sufyan bin Wahab, an official, sought has guidance and direction.  Hadrat ‘Umar wrote him back, saying :  “If the people give you that which they used to give to the Holy Prophet, you should take it, and make arrangements for the protection of the Siblah forest, otherwise honey prroduced by the bee is just like the rain water which may be used freely by an body”.
Maulana Maududi has expressed the view that honey should be exempted from Zakat, but if it is made an article of trade, it should be made subject to Zakat just like other trade goods.
This is the view of Imam Abu Hanifah.  According to his celebrated pupils and Imam Shafi, the minimum quantity for ‘Ushr to be obligatory is five Wasaqs (app. 2000 lb.)  The Ahl al-Hadith scholars concur in this view.  They base their opinion on this Hadith : 
There is no ‘Ushr on less than five Wasaqs of produce.”
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal holds the view that all minerals, whether in solid or liquid state, are subject to Zakat 2 ½  per cent , provided their value reaches Nisab and they ae in private ownership.  In the time of Hadrat ‘Umar bin ‘Abdul Aziz this was the actual practice of the state. (Al-Mughni, II,p.58)

Zakat

One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust.
The word Zakat means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need, and, like the pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new growth.
Zakat is the amount of money that every adult, mentally stable, free, and financially able Muslim, male and female, has to pay to support specific categories people.
This category of people is defined in surah at-Taubah (9) verse 60: "The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and (for) the wayfarers; a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is knower, Wise." (The Holy Qur'an 9:60).
The obligatory nature of Zakat is firmly established in the Qur'an, the Sunnah (or hadith), and the consensus of the companions and the Muslim scholars. Allah states in Surah at-Taubah verses 34-35: "O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of Allah. And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah. announce unto them a most grievous penalty - On the Day when heat will be produced out of that (wealth) in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, their flanks, and their backs.- "This is the (treasure) which ye buried for yourselves: taste ye, then, the (treasures) ye buried!" (The Holy Qur'an 9:34-35).
It is agreed between Muslims in all the centuries the obligatory nature of paying Zakat for gold and silver, and from those the other kinds of currency.
Zakat is obligatory when a certain amount of money, called the nisab is reached or exceeded. Zakat is not obligatory if the amount owned is less than this nisab. The nisab (or minimum amount) of gold and golden currency is 20 mithqal, this is approximately 85 grams of pure gold. One mithqal is approximately 4.25 grams. The nisab of silver and silver currency is 200 dirhams, which is approximately 595 grams of pure silver. The nisab of other kinds of money and currency is to be scaled to that of gold, 85 grams of pure gold. This means that the nisab of money is the price of 85 grams of 999-type (pure) gold, on the day in which Zakat is paid. (Current Gold Prices)
When is Zakat Due ?
1. Passage of One Lunar Year:
Zakat is obligatory after a time span of one lunar year passes with the money in the control of it's owner. Then the owner needs to pay 2.5% (or 1/40) of the money as Zakat. (A lunar year is approximately 355 days).
2. Deduction of Debts:
The owner should deduct any amount of money he or she borrowed from others; then check if the rest reaches the necessary nisab, then pays Zakat for it.
If the owner had enough money to satisfy the nisab at the beginning of the year, then the money increased (in profits, salaries, inheritance, grants...etc.), the owner needs to add the increase to the nisab amount owned at the beginning of the year; then pay Zakat, 2.5%, of the total at the end of the lunar year. (there are small differences in the fiqh schools here) Each Muslim calculates his or her own Zakat individually. For most purposes this involves the payment each year of two and a half percent of one's capital. (Zakat Calculator)
A pious person may also give as much as he or she pleases as sadaqa, and does so preferably in secret. Although this word can be translated as 'voluntary charity' it has a wider meaning. The Prophet said 'even meeting your brother with a cheerful face is charity.'
The Prophet said: 'Charity is a necessity for every Muslim. ' He was asked: 'What if a person has nothing?' The Prophet replied: 'He should work with his own hands for his benefit and then give something out of such earnings in charity.' The Companions asked: 'What if he is not able to work?' The Prophet said: 'He should help poor and needy persons.' The Companions further asked 'What if he cannot do even that?' The Prophet said 'He should urge others to do good.' The Companions said 'What if he lacks that also?' The Prophet said 'He should check himself from doing evil. That is also charity.'