Hadith 22631

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Zurayqibn Hayyan, who was in charge of Egypt in the time of al-Walid,Sulayman, and Umar ibn Abd al-'Aziz, mentioned that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz had written to him saying, "Assess the muslims that you comeacross and take from what is apparent of their wealth and whatevermerchandise is in their charge, one dinar for every forty dinars, andthe same proportion from what is less than that down to twenty dinars,and if the amount falls short of that by one third of a dinar thenleave it and do not take anything from it. As for the people of theBook that you come across, take from the merchandise in their chargeone dinar for every twenty dinars, and the same proportion from whatis less than that down to ten dinars, and if the amount falls short byone third of a dinar leave it and do not take anything from it. Givethem a receipt for what you have taken f rom them until the same timenext year."Malik said, "The position among us (in Madina)concerning goods which are being managed for trading purposes is thatif a man pays zakat on his wealth, and then buys goods with it,whether cloth, slaves or something similar, and then sells them beforea year has elapsed over them, he does not pay zakat on that wealthuntil a year elapses over it from the day he paid zakat on it. He doesnot have to pay zakat on any of the goods if he does not sell them forsome years, and even if he keeps them for a very long time he stillonly has to pay zakat on them once when he sells them."Maliksaid, "The position among us concerning a man who uses gold or silverto buy wheat, dates, or whatever, for trading purposes and keeps ituntil a year has elapsed over it and then sells it, is that he onlyhas to pay zakat on it if and when he sells it, if the price reaches azakatable amount. This is therefore not the same as the harvest cropsthat a man reaps from his land, or the dates that he harvests from hispalms."Malik said, "A man who has wealth which he invests intrade, but which does not realise a zakatable profit for him, fixes amonth in the year when he takes stock of what goods he has fortrading, and counts the gold and silver that he has in ready money,and if all of it comes to a zakatable amount he pays zakat on it."Malik said, "The position is the same for muslims who tradeand muslims who do not. They only have to pay zakat once in any oneyear, whether they trade in that year or not."