Items Subject to Zakat; Restricted or Unrestricted

Zakat is one of the most significant issues of economic jurisprudence. Examining the items subject to Zakat is also of the particular importance, regarding which there are two points of view; the first view restricts the items subject to Zakat to the very nine items at the time of the Prophet (saw), while the second view maintains that the items are not restricted to those nine items. The proponents of the second view believe that the scope of these items is changeable due to time, since at the time of Imam Ali (a), it increased to more than those nine items. The argumentations presented by both views have been supported by some authentic (Sahih) narrations which have led to contradiction of the apparent meaning of these narrations. To solve the contradiction of the narrations, jurists have suggested some solutions; in continuation of the discussion, the narrations presented by both groups would be mentioned and examined in details.