ZAKAT ON CHILDREN'S WEALTH

(A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ḤANAFĪ AND AL-SYĀFI'Ī SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT)

Abstract

According to the Ḥanafī school of thought, the children's wealth is not subject to zakat because they are minors. Meanwhile, the al-Syāfi'ī School states that adulthood is not a condition that limits the obligation of zakat, so children's wealth is subject to zakat. Both the Ḥanafī school and the al-Syāfi'ī school adhere to verse 103 of Surah al-Taubah, but the results of their ijtihad are different. It inspired the author to research the istinbat method used by these two schools of thought. Apart from interpreting Quranic verses, these two schools used al-qiyās. The Ḥanafī school equates zakat with prayer, so children's wealth is not subject to zakat as they are not obligated to pray. The al-Syāfi'ī school equates the wealth of minors with that of adults because zakat is the right of the poor in the wealth of the rich. The researcher found Ḥanafī scholars state zakat is obligatory on agricultural products belonging to children, so this statement contradicted the previous one that the children's wealth is not subject to zakat.