Calibration of gantang (sa') based on metric system for agricultural Zakat in Malaysia

Giving zakat is the third of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory. The issues arose when the gantang for zakat payment in Malaysia is converted to kilogramme, a metric unit for weight as usually used for foods and there was no available standard for gantang used for zakat payment in Malaysia. However, this unit is inaccurate since gantang (sa') is not a measure of weight (mizan) but it is a measure of volume (mikyal). Thus, the objective of this research is to study the volume of the sa' and to calibrate it in the correct metric unit for standardisation purpose. A qualitative method was used by calibrating the gantang replica at Volume Laboratory, National Metrology Institute of Malaysia and the interviews with State Islamic Council, State Zakat Centre and State Mufti Department. From the calibration, the capacity of the gantang (sa') was obtained, and subsequently, the respective capacities for cupak and agricultural nisab were calculated. The finding of the research found that the volume of gantang was important in the determination of nisab, a minimum amount of crop for a certain cropping season. Hopefully this research would be a guideline for all states in Malaysia to be more systematic and efficient for the zakat agriculture determination.