Towards A Unified Zakat System

Prophet's obligations. The amount of Zakat is establishedat 10 percent of products that have been irrigated (with noexpenses). Such products include those products that areirrigated by rain or rivers, or 5 percent of products thathave been irrigated by underground water with additionalexpenses and work. The amount of Zakat depends on themethod of irrigation and planting. The annual passage (thecondition of one Zakat each year) is not a condition ofpayment of Zakat on agriculture products, rather Zakat isdue at the time of harvesting (Farhud and Ibrahim, 1986).4.4.4.1 Types of agricultural produce subject to ZakatThere is a wide disagreement in Muslim jurisprudence on thetype of products on which Zakat is obligatory. There aresome that see Zakat as an obligation on only four types ofproducts: wheat, barley, dates, and raisins (Gawjit, 1987).Others see Zakat as a duty on all food that is nourishingand can be inventoried or dried. This includes wheatbarley, corn, rice, and the like (Al-Tayar, 1987).Nourishing food means what people use as their main foodout of necessity, not choice. There is, therefore, no Zakaton food like peanuts, fruits and vegetables (Gawjit, 1987).Yet others take the view that Zakat is a duty on all thatis grown on land by people's efforts which does not include126