and his family, he is wealthy and shall not be given anything from charity. If it is not sufficient for him, it is permissible for him to take from it the amount that completes his sufficiency, even if the value of that is large. This matter has previously been mentioned in the chapter on Zakat.
1087 - Issue: He said: "And those employed to collect them (1), and they are the collectors for it, and the guardians of it."
Meaning those employed to collect Zakat. They are the third category of the categories of Zakat. They are the agents (su'at) whom the Imam sends to take it from its owners, and to collect, guard, and transport it, along with those he appoints from among those who drive the livestock, tend to them, and transport them. Likewise, the accountant, the scribe, the weighmaster, the measurer, the counter, and anyone whose services are needed for it shall be given his wage from it; because that is part of its costs, so it is like the fodder for the livestock. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to send agents for Zakat and give them their wages (2). He sent Umar, Mu'adh, Abu Musa, a man from the Banu Makhzum, Ibn al-Lutbiyyah, and others (3). His two cousins, al-Fadl ibn al-Abbas and Abd al-Muttalib ibn Rabi'ah ibn al-Harith, asked him to send them, saying: "O Messenger of Allah, if you were to send us to this charity, we would obtain what people obtain, and we would deliver to you what people deliver?" He refused to send them and said: "Indeed, this charity is the impurities of people" (4). These are stories that have become famous, to the point of being considered as reaching the level of mutawatir (concurrently transmitted), and there is no disagreement regarding them, along with what has been stated in the text (5) of the Book regarding it, which makes further elaboration unnecessary.
(1) In M: "on Zakat". (2) In M: "their wages (a'malatihim)". (3) See the verification that preceded in: 4/107, 108. Add to it: What was recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The chapter on the saying of Allah Almighty: {And those employed to collect them} and the holding of accounts of the tax collectors with the Imam, from the Book of Zakat; and in: The chapter on the stratagem of the employee to receive gifts, from the Book of Stratagems (al-Hiyal); and in: The chapter on the gifts of employees, and in: The chapter on the Imam's holding of accounts of his employees, from the Book of Judgments (al-Ahkam); and in: The chapter on the one who does not accept a gift for a reason..., from the Book of Gifts. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/160, 9/36, 88, 95, 208, 209. An-Nasa'i, in: The chapter on the one to whom Allah the Almighty gave wealth without begging, from the Book of Zakat. Al-Mujtaba 5/77, 78. Ad-Darimi, in: The chapter on what is gifted to the Zakat employees and to whom it belongs, from the Book of Zakat, and in: The chapter on the employee if he obtains something during his work, from the Book of Expeditions (as-Siyar). Sunan ad-Darimi 1/394, 2/232. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 1/17, 40, 5/423. (4) Its verification has preceded in: 4/109.
