nor upon the
neccilaries o f
Hfe :
»or upon
uncertain
property.:
Zakdt is, that the claimant of a debt of 2'a^/'is,.in-fa£t, an individual%
as the claimant thereof, in paftures, .is .the Imcim, and, in articles
of merchandife, the deputy of the. Imam \ ; and the proprietor of the
property, in all other articles, is the lmdm’s fubftitute j.
Z akat ,is not due upon dwelling-houfes or articles of clothing or
houfehold furniture, or cattle kept for immediate ufe, or (laves
employed as adtual fervants., or armour, or weapons defigned for
prefent ufe; all thefe falling under .the defeription of neceffaries■;
neither are fu.ch -confidered as increafing property: and the fame of
booh o f fcience, with refpedt to fcholars, and like wife .of tools, with
refpedl.to-handicrafts-, thefe .being to them as.neceffaries.
'If a man have a claim upon another for a debt, and the other
idifpute the fame, and fome years thus pafs away, and the claimant
'be deftitute of proof, and the debtor afterwards make a declaration
- or acknowledgment publicly, infomuch that there are witnefles of
the fame, there is no obligation upon the claimant to render any
. Zakat § for fo many years as have thus paffed. This uncertain fort
of property is, termed, in the language o f the -law, Zimdr; and
trove property, and fugitive (laves, and ufurped property, refoefling
which there is no proof, and property funk in the fea, or buried
in the defiert .and its place forgotten, and property tyrannically feized
* In oppofition to God; for, if Zakat were claimed purely as a right of God, the payment
of it would be abfolutely and unconditionally incumbent.
f Becaufe the Imam is always fuppofed to colle& the Zakat upon paftures in perfon,
and that upon merchandife by his deputies, t. e. by collectors placed at particular ftations
for that purpofe.
% A s the payment of Zakat, upon all other articles, is committed to the proprietor
himfelf.
§ Upon the property which is the fubjedt of the claim.
by the Sultan, are all of the defeription of Zimdr: and all thefe
articles are equally exempted from Sadka-fittir *. Ziffer mA Shafei
maintain, that all thefe articles are fubjedl both to Zakat, and alfo to
Sadka-fittir, as the caufe of the obligation to pay Zakat (to wit,
poffeflion of a Nifdb) is eftablifoed in each of them, although it
was- not in the immediate feifin of the proprietor whilft it fell under
the defeription of Zimdr, which does not forbid the obligation to
Zakat-,. like.the property of a traveller, which, if it remain in his
houfe, is neverthelefs fubjedlto Zakat', although it be not at the time in
his hands. The.arguments of our doctors herein are two-fold; F irst,
Alee declared that no Zakdt is due upon Zimdr property: Secondly,
the caufe of the obligation to pay Zakdt is the pofieflion of property
in a (late of increafe, which cannot be the cafe but where the
proprietor, has an immediate power of management over i t ;. but this
does not apply to a traveller who has property at home, as he may
manage it by agents»
Property-buried in. the houfe of the proprietor is not Zimdr $
becaufe-it is eafily recovered; but, with refpedl to property buried in
any other ground than that on which the houfe actually (lands (fuch
as the garden, for- inftance); there is-a- difference among our modem
dsdlors».-
P roperty which is acknowledged by a debtor to be owing to it;sdaemon
his creditor is fubjedl to Zakdt, whether fuch debtor be rich or poor,
becaufe the recovery of it is poffible; or if the debtor dilpute the Pc«y-
demand, yet here alfo the property in queftion is fubject to Zakdt\
provided there-be- proof fufficient to fubftantiate the creditor’s claim;
or that the Kd-z.ee himfelf be fatisfied of'the juftice of it; becaufe
• For an explanation of Sadka-fittir, fee Chap. V-IH.