Assalam oalaikum, There is a general perception that diamonds and other precious stones are not subject to zakat unless they have been purchased for trade. Many Islamic scholars share this opinion. The Fiqh-al-Sunnah, which is a book on Islamic jurisprudence written by Sayyid Sabiq mentions, ‘Scholars have come to agree that there is no zakah for diamonds, pearls, sapphires, coral, chrysolite and other precious stones except when they are acquired for trade’. Let us examine in the light of Quran and hadith whether this view held by quite a few Islamic scholars is valid or not. In order to justify their claim that diamonds should be exempted from zakah, many scholars quote the following Quranic verse: ‘And those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend them in the way of God, announce unto them a painful punishment’. (TMQ- 9:34) The reasons why diamonds have not been specially mentioned in this verse along with gold and silver are as follows: According to the findings of the Gemological Institute of America, India was the only source of diamonds, till 1896. Hence, there hardly seems to be any chance that the Arabs possessed Gold and silver have been mentioned in this verse merely as a sign of wealth. It does not seem reasonable that diamonds, which are much more costly than gold and silver, should be exempted from tax just because they have not been mentioned in Quranic verse 9:34 due to their not being common 1400 years back in Arab. So we find that there is no logic in agreeing to the opinion of exemption of diamond from zakah due to the superficial interpretation of Quranic verse 9:34 done by many scholars
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 01:44:52 +0000
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