Islamic Fiqh > Zakat > Zakat on mines and treasures
Extracted gold and buried treasure: minerals' khums, rikaz's fifth, and the schools' positions on year and threshold.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
A mine is what the earth holds and man extracts by labour. Shafiites and Hanbalis distinguish the apparent mine, taken without effort such as sulphur, petroleum and bitumen, a common good per the hadith of the salt of Ma'rib: « it is like water » (Abu Dawud 3064, at-Tirmidhi 1380), and the deep mine, gold, silver, iron, copper, gems, which demands effort. All schools agree the mine escapes the year: Malik states it in the Muwatta, « it is taken on the day it comes out, without waiting for the year »; the dispute bears on the rate and the threshold.
Hanafis: the fifth on every extractible product, metal or gem, extracted by free man, slave, protected non-Muslim, child or woman, on taxed land as on tithed land; liquids such as petroleum and what is neither solid nor liquid, plaster and lime, are exempt. Malikis: zakat targets only gold and silver; Malik had two narrations, the fifth on the mine gathered without toil, the quarter-tenth on one that costs labour. Shafiites: the quarter-tenth as the reliable view, one line at the fifth, another distinguishing by effort. Hanbalis: the quarter-tenth, gems included, per the verse « and of what He brought out of the earth for you » (Surah al-Baqara, 267).
The majority (Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis) require the metals' threshold: twenty dinars of gold or two hundred dirhams of silver, or their equivalent, per « nothing is due below five awaq ». Abu Hanifa does not require it, the tithe hadith remaining general.
The majority (Abu Hanifa, Muhammad, Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis) place nothing on the gems and perfumes of the sea: « no zakat on amber; it is only a thing cast up by the sea » (Ibn Abbas, reported by al-Bukhari suspended and completed by al-Shafii), and Jabir adds: « amber is not booty, it belongs to whoever finds it ». Ahmad in one narration and Abu Yusuf impose the fifth on pearl and amber, on Ya'la ibn Umayya's letter to Umar: « it is a wealth of Allah, from it comes the fifth ». Fish stays exempt among all, save an isolated opinion of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.
What is found on a frequented road or in a inhabited village is announced for a year; what is not found there bears the fifth, like the treasure.an-Nasa'i 2493, Abu Dawud 1710
A treasure is a wealth buried in ancient times with no known heir: the fifth belongs to it per « and in the treasure, the fifth ». Hanafis, dominant Malikis, Hanbalis and early al-Shafii apply it to every buried good, iron, copper, vessels, goods; dominant Shafiites and Malik in one narration restrict it to gold and silver. The threshold: the majority requires none, the treasure being likened to booty; dominant Shafiites require it, the fifth being for them a zakat destined to the categories. Found in inherited property, it follows the inheritance; in property bought, the majority returns it to the seller or his heirs, the former hand having covered what lay hidden; Ahmad in one narration, Abu Yusuf and Ibn Qudama prefer the opposite. Two claimants on free land: the first to arrive prevails so long as he works.
Mine and treasure share the absence of a year; they part on the rate: quarter-tenth for the mine in the majority view, fifth for the treasure, a threshold required for the mine and generally none for the treasure. The regime of found wealth depends on the place: land of Islam, land of war or another's property.