flowers, such as saffron, safflower (38), and cotton; because it is neither grain nor fruit, nor is it a measurable item, so Zakah is not obligatory upon it, just as with vegetables. Ahmad said: "There is nothing [due] on cotton." And he said: "There is no Zakah on saffron." This is the manifest position in the statement of al-Khiraqi, and it is the choice of Abu Bakr. It is narrated from Ali [may Allah be pleased with him: There is no] (39) Zakah on fruit, vegetables, spices, and saffron. From Umar, it is reported that he said: "The Messenger of Allah - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - only ordained Zakah on wheat, barley, dates, and raisins." The same is reported from Abdullah ibn Umar (40). It is narrated from Ahmad that there is Zakah on cotton and saffron. Abu al-Khattab derived a scholarly opinion regarding safflower and wars (41) by analogy to saffron. The preferred view is what we have mentioned, and this [other view] contradicts the principles of Ahmad; [for it is reported] (42) from him in two narrations: The first is that there is no Zakah except on the four [mentioned items]. The second is that it is only obligatory on wheat, barley, dates, raisins, millet, hull-less barley (sult), rice, lentils, and everything that takes the place of these in terms of being stored and being measured by the qafiz, such as cowpeas, chickpeas, sesame, and legumes; so there is Zakah on them. However, for these [other items], the qafiz is not applied, nor are they in the category of what he specified.

Section: There is a difference of opinion regarding olives. Ahmad said, in a narration from his son Salih: "There is a tithe (ushr) on it if it reaches [the minimum threshold] - meaning five wasqs - and if it is pressed, its price is estimated; because olive oil has longevity." This is the position of al-Zuhri, al-Awza'i, Malik, al-Layth, al-Thawri, Abu Thawr, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). It was also narrated from Ibn Abbas, based on the saying of Allah the Almighty: "...and pay its due on the day of its harvest" (43), in the sequence of His statement: "...and olives and pomegranates" (43). Also, because its yield can be stored, it resembles dates and raisins. From Ahmad, [another view is] that there is no Zakah on it. This is the choice of Abu Bakr and the apparent meaning of al-Khiraqi’s statement. This is also the position of Ibn Abi Layla, al-Hasan ibn Salih, Abu Ubayd (44), and one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i; because it is not stored in a dried state, so it is like vegetables, and the verse was not intended to refer to Zakah, because it is Meccan and Zakah was only ordained in Medina; that is why pomegranates were mentioned, yet there is no tithe on them. Mujahid said: "When he harvests his crops, he sets aside [a portion] of the stalks for them, and when he harvests (45) his palm trees, he sets aside [a portion] of the date branches for them." Al-Nakha'i and Abu Ja'far said: "This verse is abrogated, assuming it refers to what is harvestable, evidenced by the fact that the pomegranate is mentioned after it, and there is no Zakah on it."