Another type of work is extracting that which exists inside the earth and which is not one of the necessities of the community, namely the hidden treasure (Rikaz). This is not a right for Muslims collectively, as is stated in Fiqh terminology. The one who extracts a treasure possesses four-fifths of it and gives the other fifth as Zakat.

However if it was of the community necessities and a right for the Muslims collectively, then it belongs to the public property. What defines this matter precisely is that if the treasure was hidden in the earth by man’s action or if it was of too small a quantity to become a need for the community, then it would be a treasure (Rikaz). While that which exists originally inside the earth and is needed by the community is not Rikaz but it is a public property. That which exists originally inside the earth and that the community has no need for, such as stone quarries, from where building stones and other such things are produced, is not Rikaz nor a public property, rather it belongs to the individual property. The possession of the Rikaz and giving out a fifth of it as a Zakat, is proven in the hadith where ’Amr ibn Shu’aib narrated in al-Nisai from his father, from his grandfather, who said: “The Prophet (pbuh) of Allah (pbuh) was asked about Luqatah (a thing picked from the ground) and He (pbuh) said: ‘If it was picked from a used road or an inhabited village, you have to describe it and announce it for one year: If its owner identified it, it is restored to him, otherwise it is yours. But if it was not picked from a used road or an inhabited village, then you have to pay a fifth of it and of the treasure (Rikaz).’”

Extracting that which exists in the air, such as oxygen and nitrogen is treated as that which is produced from inside the earth. Anything created by Allah (swt) which the Shar’a made Mubah and did not restrict the use of it is also treated similarly.