Zakat al-Ashum wa al-Sanadat wa al-Waraq al-Naqdi
- Author died
- 1439 AH
- Editions
- Dar Balansiyya for Publishing and Distribution
Zakat al-Ashum wa al-Sanadat wa al-Waraq al-Naqdi (Zakat on Shares, Bonds, and Paper Currency) is a contemporary jurisprudence treatise authored by the Saudi scholar Salih al-Sadlan (d. 1439 AH / 2017 CE), addressing the rulings and calculations of zakat on modern financial instruments and paper money.
Background and Purpose
The treatise was originally prepared in 1408 AH (1987–1988 CE) for first-level, second-semester students at the College of Sharia at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, as part of their prescribed fiqh curriculum. The author composed the work to address contemporary legal questions (nawazil) arising from the widespread adoption of corporate shares, bonds, and fiat currencies in modern domestic and international trade. His stated objective was to provide a concise, accessible reference summarizing contemporary scholarly views and legal deductions, while emphasizing the role of zakat in encouraging the circulation and investment of wealth rather than its hoarding.
Structure and Content
The book is arranged into two main chapters (mabhath) alongside introductory and concluding material:
- First Chapter (al-Mabhath al-Awwal): Covers the zakat of shares and bonds (Zakat al-Ashum wa al-Sanadat). It includes the definitions of shares and bonds, the historical background of their emergence, the core distinctions between holding a share and holding a bond, the precise manner in which zakat is assessed on each, and an important cautionary note regarding their transactions.
- Second Chapter (al-Mabhath al-Thani): Focuses on paper currency (al-Awraq al-Naqdiyyah). It addresses the legal and economic definition of paper money, its origins and evolutionary stages, its monetary backing (ghita'), its classifications, and its intrinsic and nominal value. It then examines the juristic opinions regarding the zakat obligation on paper currency, analyzes the critiques and implications of each position, and articulates the preferred view with supporting evidence.
The work concludes with a summary of findings and includes the full text and clauses of Resolution No. 10 (issued in 1393 AH) by the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia regarding the legal status and zakat of paper currency.
Reception and Publication
The work received an introductory commendation (taqriz) from Dr. Hamad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Junaydil, a professor in the Islamic Economics department at the College of Sharia, who commended its brevity, clarity, and summarization of contemporary collective and individual ijtihad on modern financial occurrences.
The treatise was published by al-Dar al-Alamiyyah lil-Kitab al-Islami in 1409 AH (1988–1989 CE), and later issued in a second edition by Dar al-Muslim in Riyadh in 1415 AH (1994–1995 CE).
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