Zakat
AR RAIHAN EDUCATIONAL TRUST
Zakat (Arabic: زكاة zakāh [zaˈkaːh], “that which purifies”, also Zakat al-mal [zaˈkaːt alˈmaːl] زكاة المال, “Zakat on wealth”, or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving treated in Islam as a religious obligation or tax, which, by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (salat) in importance.
As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth. It is a mandatory charitable contribution, often considered to be a tax. The payment and disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam, notably during the Ridda wars.
Zakat on wealth is based on the value of all of one’s possessions. It is customarily 2.5% (or 1⁄40) of a Muslim’s total savings and wealth above a minimum amount known as nisab, but Islamic scholars differ on how much nisab is and other aspects of zakat.


According to Islamic doctrine, the collected amount should be paid to the poor and the needy, Zakat collectors, recent converts to Islam, those to be freed from slavery, those in debt, in the cause of Allah and to benefit the stranded traveler.
Today, in most Muslim-majority countries, zakat contributions are voluntary, while in Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen, zakat is mandated and collected by the state (as of 2015). Shias, unlike Sunnis, traditionally regarded zakat as private and voluntary action, and they give zakat to imam-sponsored rather than state-sponsored collectors.
Etymology
Zakat means “that which purifies”. The word is derived from Classical Syriac ܙܟܘܬܐ (zakhutha, “victory, merit, justification”, related to the Hebrew זְכוּת (z’khút, “legal right, moral right, merit”). Zakat is considered a way to purify one’s income and wealth from sometimes worldly, impure ways of acquisition. According to Sachiko Murata and William Chittick, “Just as ablutions purify the body and salat purifies the soul (in Islam), so zakat purifies possessions and makes them pleasing to God.”
Quran
The Quran discusses charity in many verses, some of which relate to zakat. The word zakat, with the meaning used in Islam now, is found, for example, in suras: 7:156, 9:60, 19:31, 19:55, 21:73, 23:4, 27:3, 30:39, 31:4, and 41:7. Zakat is found in the early Medinan suras and described as obligatory for Muslims. It is given for the sake of salvation. Muslims believe those who give zakat can expect a reward from God in the afterlife while neglecting to give zakat can result in damnation. Zakat is considered part of the covenant between God and a Muslim.
Verse 2.177 (Picktall translation) sums up the Quranic view of charity and almsgiving (Another name for Zakat is the “Poor Due”):
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West, but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observe the proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such is the God fearing. – 2:177
According to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, verse 9.5 of the Quran makes zakat one of three prerequisites for pagans to become Muslims: “but if they repent, establish prayers, and practice zakat they are your brethren in faith”.
The Quran also lists who should receive the benefits of zakat, discussed in more detail below.
Hadith
Each of the most trusted hadith collections in Islam has a book dedicated to zakat. Sahih Bukhari’s Book 24, Sahih Muslim’s Book 5, and Sunan Abu-Dawud’s Book 9 discuss various aspects of zakat, including who must pay, how much, when, and what. The 2.5% rate is also mentioned in the hadiths.
The hadiths admonish those who do not give the zakat. According to the hadith, refusal to pay or mockery of those who pay zakat is a sign of hypocrisy, and God will not accept the prayers of such people. The sunna also describes God’s punishment for those who refuse or fail to pay zakat. On the day of Judgment, those who did not give the zakat will be held accountable and punished.
The hadith contain advice on the state-authorized collection of the zakat. The collectors are required not to take more than what is due, and those who are paying the zakat are asked not to evade payment. The hadith also warn of punishment for those who take zakat when they are not eligible to receive it.
Amount
The amount of zakat to be paid by an individual depends on the amount of money and the type of assets the individual possesses. The Quran does not provide specific guidelines on which types of wealth are taxable under the zakat, nor does it specify percentages to be given. But the customary practice is that the amount of zakat paid on capital assets (e.g. money) is 2.5% (1⁄40). Zakat is additionally payable on agricultural goods, precious metals, minerals, and livestock at a rate varying between 2.5% and 20% (1/5), depending on the type of goods.
Zakat is usually payable on assets continuously owned over one lunar year that are over the nisab, a minimum monetary value. However, Islamic scholars have disagreed on this issue. For example, Abu Hanifa did not regard the nisab limit to be a pre-requisite for zakat, in the case of land crops, fruits, and minerals. Other differences between Islamic scholars on zakat and nisab are acknowledged as follows by Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
Unlike prayers, we observe that even the ratio, the exemption, the kinds of wealth that are zakatable are subject to differences among scholars. Such differences have serious implications for Muslims at large when it comes to their application of the Islamic obligation of zakat. For example, some scholars consider the wealth of children and insane individuals zakatable, others don’t. Some scholars consider all agricultural products zakatable, others restrict zakat to specific kinds only. Some consider debts zakatable, others don’t. Similar differences exist for business assets and women’s jewelry. Some require a certain minimum (nisab) for zakatability, some don’t. etc. The same kind of differences also exists about the disbursement of zakat. – Shiekh Mahmud Shaltut
Failure to Pay
The consequence of failure to pay zakat has been a subject of extensive legal debate in traditional Islamic jurisprudence, particularly when a Muslim is willing to pay zakat but refuses to pay it to a certain group or the state. According to classical jurists, if the collector is unjust in the collection of zakat but just in its distribution, the concealment of property from him is allowed. If, on the other hand, the collector is just in the collection but unjust in the distribution, the concealment of property from him is an obligation (wajib). Furthermore, if the zakat is concealed from a just collector because the property owner wanted to pay his zakat to the poor himself, they held that he should not be punished for it. If collection of zakat by force was not possible, use of military force to extract it was seen as justified, as was done by Abu Bakr during the Ridda Wars, on the argument that refusing to submit to just orders is a form of treason. However, Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school, disapproved of fighting when the property owners undertook to distribute the zakat to the poor themselves.
Some classical jurists held the view that any Muslim who consciously refuses to pay zakat is an apostate, since the failure to believe that it is a religious duty (fard) is a form of unbelief (kufr), and should be killed. However, the prevailing opinion among classical jurists prescribed sanctions such as fines, imprisonment, or corporal punishment. Some classical and contemporary scholars such as Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh and Yusuf al-Qaradawi have stated that the person who fails to pay Zakat should have the payment taken from them, along with half of his wealth. Additionally, those who failed to pay the zakat would face God’s punishment in the afterlife on the Day of Judgment.
In modern states where zakat payment is compulsory, failure to pay is regulated by state law similarly to tax evasion.
Distribution
According to the Quran’s Surah Al-Tawba, there are eight categories of people (asnaf) who qualify to benefit from zakat funds.
“Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth); for those in bondage and debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by Allah, and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.”
— Qur’an, Sura 9 (Al-Tawba), ayat 60
Islamic scholars have traditionally interpreted this verse as identifying the following eight categories of Muslim causes to be the proper recipients of zakat:
- Those living without means of livelihood (Al-Fuqarā’), the poor
- Those who cannot meet their basic needs (Al-Masākīn), the needy
- To zakat collectors (Al-Āmilīyn ‘Alihā)
- To persuade those sympathetic to or expected to convert to Islam (Al-Mu’allafatu Qulūbuhum), recent converts to Islam, and potential allies in the cause of Islam
- To free from slavery or servitude (Fir-Riqāb), slaves of Muslims who have or intend to free from their master through a kitabah contract
- Those who have incurred overwhelming debts while attempting to satisfy their basic needs (Al-Ghārimīn), debtors who in pursuit of a worthy goal incurred a debt
- Those fighting for a religious cause or a cause of God (Fī Sabīlillāh), or Jihad in the way of Allah utilizing pen, word, or sword, or for Islamic warriors who fight against the unbelievers but are not salaried soldiers.
- Wayfarers, stranded travelers (Ibnu Al-Sabīl), travelers who are traveling with a worthy goal but cannot reach their destination without financial assistance
Zakat should not be given to one’s parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, spouses, or the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Neither the Quran nor the Hadiths specify the relative division of zakat into the above eight categories. According to the Reliance of the Traveller, the Shafi’i school requires zakat to be distributed equally among the eight categories of recipients, while the Hanafi school permits zakat to be distributed to all the categories, some of them, or just one of them. Classical schools of Islamic law, including Shafi’i, are unanimous that collectors of zakat are to be paid first, with the balance to be distributed equally amongst the remaining seven categories of recipients, even in cases where one group’s need is more demanding.[citation needed]
Muslim scholars disagree on whether zakat recipients can include non-Muslims. Islamic scholarship, historically, has taught that only Muslims can be recipients of zakat. In recent times, some state that zakat may be paid to non-Muslims after the needs of Muslims have been met, finding nothing in the Quran or sunnah to indicate that zakat should be paid to Muslims only.
Additionally, the zakat funds may be spent on the administration of a centralized zakat collection system. Representatives of the Salafi movement include propagation of Islam and any struggle in righteous cause among permissible ways of spending, while others argue that zakat funds should be spent on social welfare and economic development projects, or science and technology education. Some hold spending them for the defense to be permissible if a Muslim country is under attack. Also, it is forbidden to disburse zakat funds into investments instead of being given to one of the above eight categories of recipients.
Role in Society
The zakat is considered by Muslims to be an act of piety through which one expresses concern for the well-being of fellow Muslims, as well as preserving social harmony between the wealthy and the poor. Zakat promotes a more equitable redistribution of wealth and fosters a sense of solidarity amongst members of the Ummah.
Zakat, an Islamic practice initiated by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was first collected on the first day of Muharram. It has played an important role throughout its history. Schact suggests that the idea of zakat may have entered Islam from Judaism, with roots in the Hebrew and Aramaic word zakut. However, some Islamic scholars disagree that the Qur’anic verses on zakat (or zakah) have roots in Judaism.
The caliph Abu Bakr, believed by Sunni Muslims to be Muhammad’s successor, was the first to institute a statutory zakat system. Abu Bakr established the principle that the zakat must be paid to the legitimate representative of the Prophet’s authority (i.e. himself). Other Muslims disagreed and refused to pay zakat to Abu Bakr, leading to accusations of apostasy and, ultimately, the Ridda wars.
The second and third caliphs, Umar ibn al-Khattab and Usman ibn Affan continued Abu Bakr’s codification of the zakat. Uthman also modified the zakat collection protocol by decreeing that only “apparent” wealth was taxable, which had the effect of limiting zakat to mostly being paid on agricultural land and produce. During the reign of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the issue of zakat was tied to the legitimacy of his government. After Ali, his supporters refused to pay zakat to Muawiyah I, as they did not recognize his legitimacy.
The practice of Islamic state-administered zakat was short-lived in Medina. During the reign of Umar bin Abdul Aziz (717–720 A.D.), it is reported that no one in Medina needed the zakat. After him, zakat came more to be considered as an individual responsibility. This view changed over Islamic history. Sunni Muslims and rulers, for example, considered the collection and disbursement of zakat as one of the functions of an Islamic state; this view has continued in modern Islamic countries.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, and in various Islamic polities of the past was expected to be paid by all practicing Muslims who have the financial means (nisab). In addition to their zakat obligations, Muslims were encouraged to make voluntary contributions (sadaqat). The zakat was not collected from non-Muslims, although they were required to pay the jizyah tax. Depending on the region, the dominant portion of zakat went typically to Amil (the zakat collectors) or Sabīlillāh (those fighting for a religious cause, the caretaker of the local mosque, or those working in the cause of God such as proselytizing non-Muslims to convert to Islam).
Contemporary Practice
According to the researcher Russell Powell in 2010, zakat was mandatory by state law in Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. There were government-run voluntary zakat contribution programs in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, and the United Arab Emirates.
In a 2019 study conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding that examined philanthropy for American Muslims in comparison to other faith and non-faith groups, it was found that for American Muslims, Zakat was an important driver of charitable giving. This results in American Muslims being the most likely faith group studied to be motivated to donate based on a believed religious obligation (zakat), and a “feeling that those with more should help those with less”, referencing again the concept and religious imperative behind Zakat.



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