Islamic Fiqh > Zakat > Zakat: definition, status and conditions
The third pillar of Islam: upon whom is zakat due? The consensual conditions, and the difference over the child and the insane.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
Zakat is a fixed ordinance of Islam, its third pillar, established by the Quran, the Sunna, consensus and reason. Allah links it to prayer: « And establish prayer and give zakat » (Surah al-Baqara, 43). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the prayer, zakat, hajj and the fast of Ramadan » (al-Bukhari 8, Muslim 16).
As for hoards of gold and silver whose owners do not pay their due, plates of fire will be heated in the Fire of Hell, and his side, forehead and back will be branded with them. Every time they cool, they will be renewed through a day the measure of fifty thousand years, until judgement is passed among the servants; then he will be shown his path: to Paradise or to the Fire. The same applies to the owner of camels, cattle and sheep who fails to pay their due.Muslim 987, al-Bukhari 4678
The jurists agree that zakat is due from every Muslim who has reached puberty and is of sound mind, who is free, who knows that zakat is obligatory, who owns the nisab in full ownership and is able to pay it, the conditions being met upon the wealth. They differ on everything else.
The majority (Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis) make zakat due on the wealth of the child and the insane, male or female, and the guardian pays it from their wealth: the texts are general (Surah at-Tawba, 103; the hadith of Muadh) and several Companions applied it, such as Umar, Ali, Ibn Umar, Aisha and Jabir. The guardian adds his own intention when paying. If he paid nothing, past zakat remains due after puberty or recovery. Abu Hanifa does not make it due, except the tenth on their crops and fruits and zakat al-fitr, relying on the hadith of the pen lifted from the child until maturity and the insane until recovery (authentic hadith): zakat is a pure act of worship requiring intention, which is absent here.
For the Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis and Zufr ibn Hunayf, knowledge of the obligation is not a condition of its falling due: the convert who remains in the land of war with grazing flocks, unaware of Islamic law, becomes liable once he joins Islam. Abu Hanifa and his two companions, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, make it a condition and exclude this case.
By consensus, zakat is not owed by the original non-Muslim, whether hostile or under protection: it is a purification and a branch of Islam, and the instruction given to Muadh called him to faith first (al-Bukhari 1425, Muslim 19). As for the apostate, Shafiites and Hanbalis keep the zakat already due on his wealth, taken by the authority as from the withholding Muslim; Hanafis cancel it, since zakat, like prayer, requires a valid intention. If apostasy occurs before the year completes, the obligation does not arise for the majority; if he returns to Islam within the year, he restarts it.
The Malikis, Shafiites and one narration of Ahmad ibn Hanbal chosen by Ibn Qudama make ability to pay a condition: if the wealth perishes after the year and before its owner can pay, without negligence, nothing is due, for zakat is a duty of ease. The dominant Hanbali view and the Hanafis do not condition it; for the latter, zakat due disappears when the wealth perishes, since the property itself is what is taken from.
Withholding zakat is a major sin: the authority takes it by force, for « zakat is the right of the wealth », as Abu Bakr said before the Companions, who unanimously fought the resisters (al-Bukhari 1335, 6526, Muslim 20). One who withholds out of avarice remains a sinful Muslim; one who denies it while living in Muslim lands is judged an apostate according to Ibn Taymiyya and the majority. The early Shafiites and a narration of Ahmad and Ishaq added half of his wealth as a punishment, based on the hadith of Bahz ibn Hakim: « We take it and half his wealth, as a decree of our Lord » (Abu Dawud 1575, good hadith); the majority (Hanafis, Malikis, later Shafiites, Hanbalis) take only the zakat, based on « there is no right in wealth besides zakat » (Ibn Majah 1789, weak hadith). A collective threat follows the refusal: « No people withhold zakat but that Allah withholds rain from them » (at-Tabarani, Ibn Majah 4019).
On every free, adult, sound Muslim holding the nisab for a lunar year: the child and the poor owe none (the child's is paid by the guardian per scholars).
Yes: zakat can be paid in value or useful goods (food, equipment), per what helps recipients most.
Yes, advancing on the hawl is lawful (reported of Companions with Wabar's goods); unexcused delay is discouraged.
No per contemporary scholars: taxes are a distinct public contract; zakat is due in addition, destined to the Quranic eight categories.