Question
Is there a sound hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that restricts the obligation of zakat on crops to five wasqs?
Answer
I say, and with God's success: From Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: "There is no charity on what is less than five wasqs, nor on what is less than five head of cattle, nor on what is less than five awaqi." In Sahih Muslim 2: 673, and Sahih Bukhari 2: 529. And from Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm from his father from his grandfather (may Allah be pleased with him): "That the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wrote to the people of Yemen with a letter containing the obligations, the Sunnah, and the blood money, which he sent with Amr ibn Hazm (may Allah be pleased with him). I read it to the people of Yemen, and this is its copy: From Muhammad the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Sharhabil ibn Abd Kallal, and Al-Harith ibn Abd Kallal, and Nu'aym ibn Abd Kallal, it was said: Dhur-Ra'in and Ma'afar and Hamdan: As for what follows: Your messenger has returned, and you have been given from the spoils one-fifth for Allah and what Allah has prescribed for the believers of one-tenth in the land, and what is watered by the sky or is irrigated or is rain-fed, there is one-tenth in it if it reaches five wasqs, and what is watered by the bucket and the rope, there is half of one-tenth in it if it reaches five wasqs." In Sahih Ibn Hibban 14: 501. The two companions of the Hanafi school acted upon these hadiths, so they did not make zakat obligatory on what is less than five wasqs. Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) relied on the generality of the Quran: {And give its due on the day of its harvest} Al-An'am: 141, and on the well-known hadiths that made zakat obligatory in general on everything that comes out of the earth; From Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them), he said: "In what is watered by the sky and the springs or is irrigated, there is one-tenth, and what is watered by the spray is half of one-tenth." In Sahih Bukhari 2: 540. And from Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: "In what is watered by the sky, rivers, and springs, there is one-tenth, and in what is watered by the bucket, there is half of one-tenth." In Sunan Al-Daraqutni 2: 130, he made zakat obligatory in both little and much, and his statement (may Allah have mercy on him) is the relied upon opinion among the Hanafis, and Allah knows best.