What is zakāh? 

Zakāh is one of the five pillars of Islām. It is a fard  action that MUST be undertaken by all Muslims who meet certain requirements. It is an act of worship and must be fulfilled with the sole intention of obeying and pleasing Allāh سبحانه وتعالىٰ. The word zakāh is commonly translated as ‘alms tax’ or ‘poor due.’ Basically, it is that part of a Muslim person’s wealth that is set aside especially for the poor and needy.

You mean ‘charity?’

 Zakāh is certainly a charitable act. However, it is not entirely accurate to translate zakāh as charity. Charity is a voluntary act. It can be given to anybody, at any time, in any amounts. Zakāh is different, carrying with it specific ahkām (rules). For example:

·       It is a compulsory act. (all qualifying Muslims must give it);

·       It is paid on certain types of wealth;

·       It is paid at specific rates;

·       It has to be given to specific types of people.

If you wanted to give ‘more’ to ‘different’ types of people? Could you?

Alhamdulillah, as Muslims our hands are not tied when it comes to giving to others. You can give as much money as you like to worthy causes. However, any of that money given over and above your obligatory zakāh is counted as voluntary charity or sadaqah.

What does the word zakāh mean?

The root of the verb is to ‘purify’. It is a word mentioned frequently in the Qur’ān when talking of purification,  

قَد أَفلَحَ مَن تَزَكّىٰ

He has certainly succeeded who purifies himself

Sūrah al A’lā, 87:14

Zakāh is described as purifying because it cleanses our wealth and property as well as ourselves[1].

That sounds very beneficial. Are there personal benefits of giving zakāh?

Yes, insha’Allāh. Allāh reminds us repeatedly in the Qur’ān about the benefits for those who give zakāh:

It counts as a major act of worship

 وَأَقيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكاةَ وَأَطيعُوا الرَّسولَ لَعَلَّكُم تُرحَمونَ

And establish prayer and give zakāh and obey the Messenger – that you may receive Mercy.

Sūrah an Nūr, 24:56

Their own wealth will be multiplied

وَما آتَيتُم مِن زَكاةٍ تُريدونَ وَجهَ اللَّهِ فَأُولٰئِكَ هُمُ المُضعِفونَ

But what you give in zakāh, desiring the Face of Allāh – those are the multipliers[2]

Sūrah ar Rūm, 30:39

His or her īmān will be fortified

 إِنَّمَا المُؤمِنونَ الَّذينَ إِذا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَت قُلوبُهُم وَإِذا تُلِيَت عَلَيهِم آياتُهُ زادَتهُم إيمانًا وَعَلىٰ رَبِّهِم يَتَوَكَّلونَ الَّذينَ يُقيمونَ الصَّلاةَ وَمِمّا رَزَقناهُم يُنفِقونَأُولٰئِكَ هُمُ المُؤمِنونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَهُم دَرَجاتٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِم وَمَغفِرَةٌ وَرِزقٌ كَريمٌ

The believers are only those who, when Allāh is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely

The ones who establish prayer, and from what We have provided them, they spend. Those are the believers, truly. For them are degrees (of high position) with their Lord and forgiveness and noble provision.

Sūrah al Anfāl, 8:3,4 

He or she will be rewarded

يَمحَقُ اللَّهُ الرِّبا وَيُربِي الصَّدَقاتِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ كَفّارٍ أَثيمٍ

Allāh destroys interest and gives increase for charities. And Allāh does not like every sinning disbeliever.

Sūrah al Baqarah, 2:276

He or she will be in receipt of Allāh’s Forgiveness and His Mercy

خُذ مِن أَموالِهِم صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُم وَتُزَكّيهِم بِها وَصَلِّ عَلَيهِم ۖ إِنَّ صَلاتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَهُم ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَميعٌ عَليمٌ

أَلَم يَعلَموا أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ يَقبَلُ التَّوبَةَ عَن عِبادِهِ وَيَأخُذُ الصَّدَقاتِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوّابُ الرَّحيمُ

Take (O Muhammad), from their wealth, a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke (Allāh’s blessings) upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. Do they not know that it is Allāh who accepts repentance from His servants and receives charities and that it is Allāh who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful? 

Sūrah al Tawbah, 9:103,104

Furthermore, Insha’Allāh, that person will develop higher morals, will become inclined towards generosity, kindness, gentleness and sympathy towards others, and miserliness will be eliminated from their character.

Those are great personal benefits. Just imagine the benefits to the whole of society, if everyone adopted paying zakāh?

Yes. There are incredible social, economic and moral benefits for society as a whole from the universal implementation of zakāh. For example,

• The needs of the poor and suffering are attended to. Their burden is shared by the entire community;

• The Muslim community at large have a substantial source of income;

• The relationship between rich and the poor can be strengthened;

• The poor will not be treated as outcasts but rather embraced by a community paying zakāh;

• Wealth can increase and circulate in society;

• It can cut crime, unethical and antisocial behaviour - whether rich or poor, it can dampen greed, envy, corruption and the temptation to steal.

When millions and millions of individuals are conscious of their obligations towards their Creator, the īmān and moral fibre of the ummah as a whole, will inevitably be stronger.

You say zakāh is fard.  Does ‘everyone’ have to pay zakāh?

No. To be one of those people required to pay zakāh, you must possess a certain minimum amount of wealth. This amount is called the nisāb.

So, to have to pay zakāh, your wealth must cross the nisāb?

Yes. If the amount of wealth you own is not above the nisāb, then you do not have to pay zakāh. Once you cross the nisāb, zakāh becomes due on the whole amount

How much is the nisāb? Is it one particular figure for example in Saudi Riyals or Pounds Sterling?

No. The nisāb varies according to the type of property that you are paying zakāh on. You have to separate your property into categories and then count them up to see whether, for each type, you have crossed the nisāb. It is entirely possible that a person may find themselves exempt from zakāh on one type of property, but at the same time, liable on another type.

What do you mean?

Let’s imagine that a man owns quantities of gold and grain. The nisāb for gold is twenty mithqāl. A mithqāl is a unit of measurement equal to approximately 4.5 grams. The nisāb of grain meanwhile is five awsūq (approximately 675 kg[3]). He may own only 50 grams of gold, but 800 kgs of grain. In such a situation, he is liable to pay zakāh on his grain but not on his gold.

The point is, is that all your different types of wealth must be gathered and counted separately. If you do not cross the nisāb figure for any of them, you will not have to pay zakāh.

What if you own so many different kinds of things? Do you have to count them all up and find out the value of all these things separately?

Remember what was said at the start. Zakāh is only paid on ‘certain types’ of wealth.

Oh yes. Okay, so, what kind of property is zakāh paid on?

• Zakāh must be paid on the following items:

• Gold;

• Silver;

• Cash and coins;

• Produce of the earth;

• Stock in Trade;

• Discovered buried treasure from before Islām;

• Extractions from mines and minerals;

• Grazing animals.

Can you give me examples of the nisāb of some of those items? 

For ease of study, let’s consider up to Stock in Trade only[4]. For each type of wealth, if you have the following nisāb amounts, then zakāh becomes payable:

Why is the nisāb rule necessary?

The setting of the nisāb is an example of the beauty of fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence). Having a nisāb protects poor people. If you are so poor that you do not even have wealth above a certain amount to meet your basic needs, then how can you be expected to give zakāh to help ‘other’ poor people?

What if you are poor but you only just go over the nisāb level. Do you still have to pay zakāh?

Yes. You are liable because you have crossed the nisāb. However, it is still manageable.

How? Isn’t that unfair? How can such people afford the zakāh payment?

Again, the fiqh is beautiful here. The amount that people pay in zakāh is not a fixed amount e.g. 1,000 Saudi Riyals, imposed on all, not a penny more, not a penny less! No. Such a system would be totally unfair. The amount paid is expressed as a percentage.

Again, can you give me an example?

Yes. Take gold. The nisāb for gold is circa 82 grams. Let us consider two people, Mūsa and Harūn. Mūsa is a poor man but he owns 120 grams of gold. This just takes him over the nisāb. Harūn is a rich man and he owns 5,000 grams of gold. He is way above the nisāb. Both of them are liable for zakāh. 

Let us imagine that the zakāh amount was a fixed figure, for example 200 grams regardless of how rich or poor the payer was. Under such a system, Harūn would not feel anything because he has so much more gold left over (5,000 less 200 = 4,800grams). However, Mūsa would suffer (120 less 200 = zero gold). He would lose ALL the gold he has.

Such a system is blatantly unfair. Zakāh is not based on such a system. It is a fair levy based upon the percentage of wealth.

So, only a percentage will be taken of Mūsa’s gold?

Yes. If we consider again, the above example. The zakāh percentage for gold is 2.5%. This means that Mūsa would have to pay 2.5% of 120 grams, which equals 3 grams. Harūn on the other hand, would have to pay 2.5% of 5,000 grams, which equals 125 grams. 

That’s fantastic Alhamdulillah. It is so important for Mūsa that it happens this way.

Yes. Harūn is richer so he pays much more. However, both of them still keep 97.5% of their gold with them. For Mūsa, more significantly, it means, his gold holding is not wiped out.

You mentioned above that the zakāh percentage for ‘gold is 2.5%.’  Is this the same for all categories?

No actually, but we will continue our discussion of zakāh in the next chapter, Insha’Allāh.

Islām around the world

Uyghur Muslim shepherds on Grasslands of XinXiang, China