What does the Jamiat-ul-ulama of Mauritius say regarding the following query and answer from the qna website? A person asked:
Q) Why don`t we not take the value of craftsmanship in the Zakaat of jewellery? ..........
The Maulana replied:
A) Because the value of craftsmanship is fictitious in our context. The value of your jewellery is the market value. And in kitaabs we found "Qimah" which means the factual value. That is the realizing or the selling value. So when you sell your jewellery, then this is the taxable value of Zakaat. In Amwaal and Stocks also, we use the same principle. Yes if the craftsmanship would have influenced the selling value of the jewellery, then we would have taken that value in Zakaat calculation. But we see that any type of jewellery would be sold at flat gold weight value. As such, we calculate Zakaat on this value: 18 Carrats Rs 900. And 22 Carrats Rs 1100.
And also we should know that the holy prophet SAW said referring to Zakaat of gold and silver that we should take into consideration the weight of the gold object or jewellery. He ordered us the use weight standard of Makkah(Abu DAwood). In the time of Rasouloullah SAW and sahabas, there were jewelleries and gold antiques. Yet, we don`t find any specification as per craftsmanship. But clearly the weight was used to calculate zakaat.
The ibarat of khilafe jins or to acquit zakaat with a currency other than gold would mean that if ever the craftsmanship had a market value. In practical, this is not the case. Your jewellery of 100 grammes is totally equal in value in front of the buyer to the gold brick of 100 grammes. So in practical life, there are no existence of the value of craftsmanship.
We cannot add something in deen when there is no practicality of it.
Yes, we agree to give even more than existing weight when the product has a higher market value like the antiques. There, we would take into consideration the selling value of the antiques to calculate the zakaat.
We cannot have a principle for other merchandise and another one for jewellery. We have querried ulamas of the world and we found most of them to abide to our analysis. Wallajou a`lam bissawaab.
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْوَزْنُ وَزْنُ أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ وَالْمِكْيَالُ مِكْيَالُ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْوَزْنُ وَزْنُ أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ وَالْمِكْيَالُ مِكْيَالُ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ ( وَالْوَزْن إِلَخْ ) الْمُرَاد وَزْن الذَّهَب وَالْفِضَّة فَقَطْ وَالْمُرَاد أَنَّ الْوَزْن الْمُعْتَبَر فِي بَاب الزَّكَاة وَزْن أَهْل مَكَّة وَهِيَ الدَّرَاهِم الَّتِي الْعَشَرَة مِنْهَا بِسَبْعَةِ مَثَاقِيل وَكَانَتْ الدَّرَاهِم مُخْتَلِفَة الْأَوْزَان فِي الْبِلَاد وَكَانَتْ دَرَاهِم أَهْل مَكَّة هِيَ الدَّرَاهِم الْمُعْتَبَرَة فِي بَاب الزَّكَاة فَأَرْشَدَ صَلَّى اللَّه تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ لِهَذَا الْكَلَام كَمَا أَرْشَدَ إِلَى بَيَان الصَّاع الْمُعْتَبَر فِي بَاب الْكَفَّارَات وَصَدَقَة الْفِطْر بِمَا سَبَقَ وَاَللَّه تَعَالَ أَعْلَم .
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-- Second question:
Q) Why is there a difference in calculation of Zakaat?.......
The Maulana replied:
A) We are aware of a masla of ‘’Jug’’ in kitaabs that requires to take into consideration of the value of the golden jug and not the weight. That is you will need to take into consideration the value of labour behind making it a jug. This is a new stand point that has come from only a few years now by local ulamas. But according to our research and many other foreign ulamas, this has not been the general ruling on the zakaat of jewellery.
Know that the local ulamas give fatwa on that Zakaat of stock should be valued at realizing or selling price value. Such that if there are some goods that are out of date and value less, then we will take the lower value in consideration. Hence we will take the selling price value for the owner. No one will come and say that if we buy such products, import from China then it will cost so much.
As such the masla on our jewelleries also are the same. Know that even for those jewelleries that are not used are Zakaatable. The proof is from the Qur-aan. Allah Ta`ala said: A ceux qui thésaurisent l’or et l’argent et ne les dépensent pas dans le sentier d’Allah, annonce un châtiment douloureux. Le jour où (ces trésors) seront portés à l’incandescence dans le feu de l’Enfer et qu’ils en seront cautérisés, front, flancs et dos: voici ce que vous avez thésaurisé pour vous-mêmes. Goûtez de ce que vous thésaurisiez.»(9 :34-35) To keep in treasure means even if you are not using them, you still need to give Zakaat. It is reported in Bukhari that Ibn Umar said that the application of this ayah is that the Zakaat would save that person from punishment and hence purify the treasure. And without Zakaat, the gold and silver would be a source of punishment.
Furthermore, some ulamas advocates that the Zakaat of the jewelleries should include the value of the labour or the value added as being a carved gold jewellery. They base themselves on the ibarats of some fiqh kitaabs on the masla of Jug.
But according to our analysis, zakaat should be given as per weight and not as per value. Simply because the value of the jewellery is the weight value at the jewellers. The factual value is valued as per weight and not as craftsmanship behind it. if today you want to sell your necklace or your jewellery, they value it as per gramme and carrats and nothing as per labour behind it. Hence Zakaat is not on ‘’Fictif’’ value, but on real value.
For 22 Carrats: Rs 1170 gramme. And for 18 Carrats: Rs 970 gramme.
«الْوَزْنُ وَزْنُ أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ ، وَالْمِكْيَالُ مِكْيَالُ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ»
are less than cost It has always been on the selling value of the issue.
