Idkhar (saving and storing wealth: the state's reserves, individuals' savings, zakat and hoarding)

In the lexicon, saving (idkhar) is putting a thing aside for the time of need, and the jurists keep to this sense. ¹ Hoarding (iktinaz) is keeping money in a vessel or burying it; in law it is money whose zakat is unpaid, whether buried or not, so saving is the wider term. Stockpiling (ihtikar) is holding goods back to await a rise in price, and it is narrower than saving, since it concerns goods whose withholding harms people. ¹

Where revenue exceeds the public treasury's expenses, the Shafi'is and one Hanbali view hold that the state may not save it, but must distribute it on the interests of Muslims, citing the practice of Umar and Ali with the treasury. ² The Hanafis and one Hanbali view hold that the state should keep the surplus against calamities, since the people's interest lies in acting quickly to lift them. ² The Malikis hold that the imam begins with the people of the town where the money was collected, until they are provided for a year, and then sends the excess elsewhere and keeps a reserve for public needs. ²

Money below the nisab may be saved, since a person cannot do without saving a little. ² Money above the nisab whose zakat is unpaid is forbidden saving, and is hoarding by agreement, on the Qur'anic passage on those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend them. ^{2 3} Money above the nisab whose zakat has been paid, and which exceeds one's basic needs, is permitted by the majority, who cite the verses of inheritance and the saying of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas that leaving one's heirs wealthy is better than leaving them dependent on people. ³ Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may God be pleased with him) held that saving surplus beyond one's needs is forbidden even when its zakat is paid, and he gave this view openly; Mu'awiya, then governor of Syria, forbade him, and he complained to Uthman, who sent him to al-Rabadha, where he died. ^{3 4} Some held that saving is forbidden even with zakat paid, if the owner does not meet the urgent duties attached to wealth, such as feeding the hungry, ransoming captives and equipping a fighter. ⁴ Ali is reported to have said that it is not lawful to save four thousand dirhams or more even with zakat paid, and that up to four thousand is spending while more is hoarding; the commentators note that this suited the value of money in his time. ⁴

The ruling depends on the motive. Saving that withholds what harms people for profit falls under stockpiling; saving to secure one's own needs and those of one's household is lawful saving. ⁴ The jurists agree that saving is permitted in general, without a time limit for the majority, and that is the preferred view of the Shafi'is, who have a view that saving beyond a year's sufficiency is disliked. ⁶ The majority rely on reports that the Prophet ﷺ provided his household's food for a year from his property and put the rest to the public purse, and that he sold the palms of Banu al-Nadir and kept his household's food for a year. ⁶

Keeping the flesh of sacrificial animals for more than three days is permitted in the view of most scholars. Ali and Ibn Umar did not allow it, since they had heard the prohibition and had not learned of the later permission. ^{6 5}

When the state expects a calamity such as a plague, drought or war, it must save for the Muslims enough food and necessities to meet their needs. It cites the story of Joseph with the king of Egypt, which the Qur'an relates without disapproval. ^{6 5}

Jurists agree that one who has stored some staple food for himself or his household, and another is in dire need of it, must give it to him if he does not need it at once, since harm is not removed by harm; he sins by withholding it when he can spare it. ⁵ The basis is a hadith that whoever has surplus provision should give it to whoever has none, and the account of the detachment led by Abu Ubayda, who pooled their provisions and shared them equally. ⁵

Saving things other than basic staples is lawful by agreement, such as household goods and vessels. The state should save what may become necessary at some time, such as horses and arms in war, and give it to those in need when they are in need. ⁵