Zakaat on Produce of the Land

1. A particular place was in the control of the kuffaar . These kuffaar used to live there and lead their normal lives in that place. Thereafter, the Muslims invaded that place, waged war with the inhabitants, captured the place and propagated Islam therein. The Muslim ruler confiscated all the land of that place and distributed it among the Muslims. In the Shariah , such land is referred to as "ushri" land. If all the inhabitants of that place accepted Islam willingly and there was no need to wage a war against them, all the land of that place will still be regarded as ushri land. All Arab lands are also ushri lands.

2. If a person owns an ushri land which has come down to him from his forefathers or purchases it from a Muslim who inherited it from his forefathers, zakaat will be wajib on whatever produce that comes out of this land. The method of paying zakaat for such a land is that the person will have to see how the land was irrigated. If it was irrigated entirely by rain water or if the crops were planted on the banks of a river or stream and these crops grew without having to irrigate them, then one tenth of the total produce of such a plantation will have to be given as zakaat. However, if the plantation was irrigated through any other mechanical means, one twentieth of the total produce will have to be given as zakaat. The same rule applies to an orchard which is on such a land. This is irrespective of the amount of produce, i.e. zakaat will be wajib irrespective of whether the produce is of a considerable amount or very little.

3. The same rule applies to corn, vegetables, esculent vegetables, fruit, flowers, etc.

4. If honey is obtained from an ushri land, from the jungle or a mountain, zakaat on this honey will also be wajib .

5. A person planted a tree in his yard or planted vegetables or some other seed and later it bore some fruit. Zakaat on such produce is not wajib .

6. An ushri land does not remain ushri when it is purchased by a kaafir . Later, if a Muslim repurchases it or obtains it in some other way, it will not become an ushri land.

7. This one tenth and one twentieth which we have mentioned, is it wajib on the person who owns the land or on the person who owns the produce of the land? There is a difference of opinion among the ulama in this regard. In order to facilitate matters, we generally say that it is wajib on the person who owns the produce of the land. If the land is given out on lease, zakaat will be wajib on the person who owns the produce. This is irrespective of whether he pays the rent in cash or gives some produce of the land as a form of payment. But if the seeds were provided by the land owner, zakaat will be wajib on both the land owner and the person who owns the produce according to their respective shares.