Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām: Chapter on Obligation of Giving Out Zakat to the Imam

Commentary #1

قال الله سبحانه:) خذ من اموالهم صدقة تطهرهم وتزكيهم بها وصل عليهم ان صلاتك سكن لهم والله سميع عليم( فأمر نبيه صلى الله عليه وآله بأخذ صدقاتهم تطهيرا لهم بها من ذنوبهم وفرض على الامة حملها إليه لفرضه عليها طاعته ونهيه لها عن خلافه، والامام قائم مقام النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فيما فرض الله عليه من إقامة الحدود والاحكام لانه مخاطب بخطابه في ذلك على ما قدمناه فيما سلف، ولما وجدنا النبي صلى الله عليه وآله كان الفرض حمل الزكاة إليه، ولما غابت عينه عن العالم بوفاته صار الفرض حمل الزكاة إلى خليفته، فإذا غاب الخليفة كان الفرض حملها الى من نصبه في مقامه من خاصته، فإذا عدم السفراء بينه وبين رعيته وجب حملها إلى الفقهاء المأمونين من أهل ولايته، لان الفقيه أعرف بموضعها ممن لا فقه له في ديانته

Allah , the Glorified, said: “Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cleanse them, and pray over them; indeed, your prayer is a source of tranquility for them, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.” Thus, Allah commanded His Prophet , may Allah bless him and his family, to take their charities as a purification for them from their sins. Allah also made it obligatory upon the community to carry it to the Prophet , because Allah had made obedience to him (Prophet ) obligatory upon them and had forbidden them from opposing him. The Imam stands in the position of the Prophet , may Allah bless him and his family, regarding what Allah made obligatory upon him (Prophet ) of establishing the legal punishments and the rulings, because the Imam is included in this address, as we have already explained previously. Since we have found that, during the time of the Prophet , may Allah bless him and his family, the obligation was to carry the zakat to him (Prophet ), then when his person became absent from the world through his death, the obligation became to carry the zakat to his successor, the Imam . Then, when the successor, the Imam , is absent, the obligation is to carry it to whoever he (the Imam ) has appointed in his position from among his special representatives. Then, when the emissaries (sufara) between him (the Imam ) and his subjects are absent, it becomes obligatory to carry it to the trustworthy jurists (fuqaha) from the people of his wilayah, because the jurist (faqih) is more knowledgeable of its proper place than one who has no fiqh in his religion.

Hadith #1

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ عَنْ أَبِي اَلْعَبَّاسِ اَلْكُوفِيِّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ أَبِي عَلِيِّ بْنِ رَاشِدٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ اَلْفِطْرَةِ لِمَنْ هِيَ قَالَ» لِلْإِمَامِ« قَالَ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ أَ فَأُخْبِرُ أَصْحَابِي قَالَ» نَعَمْ مَنْ أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تُطَهِّرَهُ مِنْهُمْ« وَ قَالَ» لاَ بَأْسَ بِأَنْ يُعْطَى وَ يُحْمَلَ ثَمَنُ ذَلِكَ وَرِقاً«.

Muhammad ibn Yaqub, from Abu al-Abbas al-Kufi, from Muhammad ibn Isa, from Abu Ali ibn Rashid, who said: I (narrator) asked Imam about ‘the (zakat of) Fitrah, for whom is it?’ Imam said: “For the Imam.” He (narrator) said: “So I said to Imam : ‘Shall I inform my companions?’” Imam said: “Yes, whoever among them you want to purify.” And Imam said: “There is no harm in it being given and the price of that being carried as silver coin (wariq).”

Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām fī Sharḥ al-Muqniʿah, vol. 4, p. 114
Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tahdhīb

Hadith #2

وَ عَنْهُ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَحْيَى وَ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ عَنْ عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ عَنْ أَيُّوبَ بْنِ نُوحٍ قَالَ: كَتَبْتُ إِلَى أَبِي اَلْحَسَنِ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ أَنَّ قَوْماً يَسْأَلُونِّي عَنِ اَلْفِطْرَةِ وَ يَسْأَلُونِّي أَنْ يَحْمِلُوا قِيمَتَهَا إِلَيْكَ وَقَدْ بَعَثَ إِلَيْكَ هَذَا اَلرَّجُلُ عَامَ أَوَّلٍ وَسَأَلَنِي أَنْ أَسْأَلَكَ فَنَسِيتُ ذَلِكَ وَ قَدْ بَعَثَ إِلَيْكَ اَلْعَامَ عَنْ كُلِّ رَأْسٍ مِنْ عِيَالِهِ بِدِرْهَمٍ عَنْ قِيمَةِ تِسْعَةِ أَرْطَالِ تَمْرٍ بِدِرْهَمٍ فَرَأْيُكَ جَعَلَنِيَ اَللَّهُ فِدَاكَ فِي ذَلِكَ فَكَتَبَ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ» اَلْفِطْرَةُ قَدْ كَثُرَ اَلسُّؤَالُ عَنْهَا وَ أَنَا أَكْرَهُ كُلَّمَا أَدَّى إِلَى اَلشُّهْرَةِ فَاقْطَعُوا ذِكْرَ ذَلِكَ فَاقْبِضْ مِمَّنْ دَفَعَ لَهَا وَ أَمْسِكْ عَمَّنْ لَمْ يَدْفَعْ«.

And from him, from Muhammad ibn Yahya and Muhammad ibn Abdullah, from Abdullah ibn Jafar, from Ayyub ibn Nuh, who said: I (narrator) wrote to Abu al-Hasan , peace be upon him: “Some people ask me about the (zakat of) Fitrah, and they ask me to carry its value to you. This man had sent to you the year before last and asked me to ask you, but I forgot that. And this year he has sent to you, on behalf of every head from his dependents, one dirham, for the value of nine artal of dates at one dirham. So your view, may Allah make me your ransom, regarding that?” Imam , peace be upon him, wrote: “The Fitrah, questioning about it has become frequent, and I dislike everything that leads to public recognition. So cut off the mention of that. Therefore, receive from whoever pays it, and refrain from whoever does not pay.”

Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām fī Sharḥ al-Muqniʿah, vol. 4, p. 114
Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tahdhīb

Hadith #3

وَ عَنْهُ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَحْيَى عَنْ بُنَانِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ أَخِيهِ عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ قَالَ: بَعَثْتُ إِلَى أَبِي اَلْحَسَنِ اَلرِّضَا عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ بِدَرَاهِمَ لِي وَلِغَيْرِي وَ كَتَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ أُخْبِرُهُ أَنَّهَا مِنْ فِطْرَةِ اَلْعِيَالِ فَكَتَبَ بِخَطِّهِ »قَبَضْتُ وَ قَبِلْتُ«.

And from him, from Muhammad ibn Yahya, from Bunan ibn Muhammad, from his brother Abdullah ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn Ismail, who said: I (narrator) sent to Abu al-Hasan al-Ridha , peace be upon him, dirhams belonging to me and to others, and I wrote to Imam informing him that they were from the Fitrah of the dependents. Imam wrote in his own handwriting: “I have received and accepted.”

Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām fī Sharḥ al-Muqniʿah, vol. 4, p. 114
Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tahdhīb

Chapter on Obligation of Giving Out Zakat to the Imam

Volume 4, Book 1, Chapter 28

Chapter on Obligation of Giving Out Zakat to the Imam

Commentary #1

Hadith #1

Hadith #2

Hadith #3