Thus, the other is liable for Zakat on his share if it reaches the nisaab. Malik and Al-Shafi'i held this view entirely. Al-Layth said: If his partner is a Christian, he should inform him that the Zakat is to be performed on the orchard, then he divides with him what remains after the Zakat. Our argument is that a Christian is not subject to Zakat, so nothing is to be removed from his share, just as if he were alone in it. Abu Dawud recorded in his Sunan from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to send Abdullah ibn Rawaha, who would estimate (khars) the palm trees when they ripened, before any of them were eaten, and then he would give the Jews of Khaybar the choice: either they take them at that estimate, or he would hand them over to them at that estimate, so that the Zakat could be accounted for before the fruits were consumed or distributed. Jabir said: Ibn Rawaha estimated them at forty thousand wasq, and he claimed that when Ibn Rawaha gave the Jews the choice, they took the fruit and were obligated for twenty thousand wasq.

Section: If he enters into a musaqat (irrigation contract) with him regarding land subject to kharaj (land tax), the kharaj is the responsibility of the owner of the wealth, because it is an obligation upon the land itself (raqaba), evidenced by the fact that it is obligatory whether the trees yield fruit or not. Furthermore, the kharaj is obligatory as rent for the land, so it is the responsibility of the owner of the land, just as if he had leased land and sharecropped with another person on it. Al-Shafi'i stated this. It has been narrated from Ahmad, regarding one who accepts uncultivated land to work on it, and it is from the Sawad lands that he accepts from the Sultan, that whoever accepts it must pay the tax (wazifa) of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and pay the tithe (ushr) after the tax of Umar. This meaning—and Allah knows best—is that if the Sultan gives kharaj land to a man to cultivate it and pay its kharaj, then he begins by paying its kharaj, then he pays Zakat on what remains, as Al-Khiraqi mentioned in the chapter on Zakat. There is no contradiction between that and what we have mentioned here, if Allah the Almighty wills.