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ZAKAT
(THE
PRSECRIBED PURIFYING ALMS)
- Who
Must Pay
- The Nisab and Zakat for Different Items of Wealth
- The Nisab and Zakat for Gold, Silver, and Other Jewelry
- Banknotes, Checks, and Bonds
- Commercial Merchandise
- Buildings and Vehicles of Transportation
- Industrial Investments and Means of Production
- Wages, Salaries, and Independent Businesses
- Cattle, Sheep, and Goats
- Farm Products
- Minerals, Mines, Buried Treasure, and Sea Products
- Recipients
- Sadaqa al-Fitr (The Charity of Fast-Breaking)
- Infaq (Spending in God's Way)
The second important
duty of servanthood is zakat. God's Messenger, who
depicts prayer as Islam's pillar or support, describes zakat
as its bridge (Canan, ibid., 6:346),
for zakat not only brings the social strata closer to each
other and fills in the gaps between them and their members,
but also stops such gaps from forming.
Zakat means purity and growing. Since it purifies wealth
and people's attachment to it, and causes both it and Muslims
to grow in purity and sincerity, the Qur'an calls it zakat
(or the prescribed alms):
(O Messenger,) take
alms (prescribed or voluntary) out of their wealth so that
you may cleanse them thereby and cause them to grow in purity
and sincerity, and pray for them. Indeed your prayer is
a source of comfort for them. God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
(9:103)
Taking into account
its very nature, zakat constitutes one of Islam's five
pillars. It is associated with prayer (salat) in 82 Qur'anic
verses. God, the Exalted One, prescribed it in His Book (the
Qur'an), His Messenger corroborated it by his sunna, and the
Muslim community by consensus upheld it. Ibn 'Abbas reported
that when the Prophet sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen (as its
governor), he said to him:
You are going to a
people who are People of the Book. Invite them to accept
the shahada: that there is no deity but God and I am His
Messenger. If they accept and affirm this, tell them that
God, the Glorious One, has enjoined five prayers upon them
during the day and night. If they accept that, tell them
also that He has enjoined sadaqa (meaning zakat)
upon their assets, which will be taken from the rich of
the (Muslim) community and distributed to the poor. If they
accept that, refrain from laying hands upon the best of
their goods and fear the cry of the oppressed, for there
is no barrier between God and it. (Bukhari,
"Zakat," 1:41; Muslim, "Iman," 31.)
Many verses exhort Muslims
to pay zakat and forbid hoarding wealth. For example:
The believers, both
men and women, they are guardians, confidants and helpers
of one another. They enjoin and promote what is right and
good and forbid and try to prevent the evil. They establish
the prayer in conformity with its conditions, and pay the
zakat (prescribed purifying alms) fully. They always
obey God and His Messenger. Those are the distinguished
ones whom God shall treat with mercy. Assuredly, God is
the All-Honored with irresistible might, All-Wise. (9:71)
and:
Those who hoard gold
and silver and do not spend it in God's way (to exalt His
cause and help the poor and needy: O Messenger,) give them
the glad tidings of a painful chastisement. (9:34)
Who
Must Pay
Zakat must be paid by every free Muslim, man or woman,
who has a nisab (the required amount of wealth). As
for the insane and children who have a nisab, if their
wealth is under disposal or in circulation, their guardians
pay it on their behalf. If a person dies before paying it,
it must be taken from the estate before paying off any debts,
if there are any, and the heirs share the inheritance.
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Conditions for Nisab.
Nisab is conditioned by the following:
- Nisab is the
amount of wealth remaining after meeting all expenses for
such vital necessities as food, clothes, housing, and a
mount. Thus, one does not have to pay zakat on what
he or she needs to make a living, such as tools or machines
related to carpentry, farming, tailoring, or working as
a doctor. All debts are subtracted from one's wealth. If
one has enough secured credit to pay off the debt, it is
added to one's wealth, and if the resultant wealth reaches
the nisab, one must pay zakat.
- For many items subject
to zakat (e.g., money, gold, silver, and cattle), a full
year of the Islamic calendar should pass, starting from
the day of the nisab's possession. If the wealth possessed
decreases during the year but is still possessed one year
later, zakat must be paid. What matters is the availability
of nisab at the beginning and end of the year. However,
this condition does not apply to plantations and fruits,
for their zakat should be paid, or at least calculated,
on the harvest day and include what has been consumed before
the harvest.
- In short, there are
two types of zakat: one grows by itself (e.g., crops and
fruits), and the other is used for growing and production
(e.g., money, merchandise, and cattle). In the former case,
zakat should be paid at harvest time; in the later, at the
end of the year.
- The wealth subject
to zakat should be actively or potentially increasing, growing,
or productive. This condition will be explained below.
- One must have private,
doubtless ownership or possession and the right of disposal
of the wealth liable to zakat.
Intention. Since
paying zakat is an act of worship, its validity depends upon
one's sincere intention to pay it for God's sake. If one pays
it without making the intention, one can still intend while
the wealth expended as zakat has not yet been consumed.
Paying Zakat at Its
Due Time. Zakat must be paid immediately at its due time.
Deferring it is prohibited, unless there is a valid reason
not to do so.
Holdings Subject
to Zakat and Their Nisab. Islam enjoined zakat on currencies
and similar things, such as shares, bonds and checks, gold
and silver, crops, fruit, livestock, merchandise, minerals,
and treasure.
The Standard of Richness.
Islam does not criticize earning; rather, it encourages working
and earning one's livelihood. But it does not approve of earning
for luxury and a luxurious life, and urges Muslims to work,
earn, and live for the other life as their goal. It encourages
mutual helping in society and spending in God's way and for
the needy, and has not established a fixed standard of living.
It regards having a house, a mount, two suits and other articles
of clothing, and one month worth of livelihood (some say that
one can keep a year of livelihood at the most) as the necessary
commodities or wealth upon which one does not have to pay
zakat. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi expresses a standard that
can be valid for all times, as follows: While most Muslims
are below the average standards of living, a Muslim cannot
live a luxurious, comfortable life.
The Sunna has established approximately 90 grams of gold or
about 600 grams of silver or 40 sheep or 30 heads of cattle
or 5 camels as the standard. If, according to the place or
the general standard of living of the people in a particular
place, one has banknotes, merchandise, or other kinds of increasing
income or capital whose value is equal to any of the standard
values given, he or she must pay zakat. However, in establishing
the nisab, the minimum amount or value, which favors the poor,
is considered.
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The Nisab and Zakat for Different Items of Wealth
The Nisab and Zakat for Gold, Silver, and Other Jewelry. The
nisab for gold is 20 dinars (approximately 90 grams) and for
silver is 200 dirhams (approximately 600 grams), both being
owned for one year. The due on them is one-fortieth of their
value. Any additional amount is to be calculated in this manner.
Gold and silver are combined. Thus, if one has gold and silver
whose value is equal to 200 dirhams of silver, zakat must
be paid. Likewise, gold, silver, banknotes and the like,
and commercial merchandise are also combined. Things made
of gold and silver are treated like gold and silver. In other
words, if the weight of gold and silver they contain amounts
to the nisab, their zakat is paid.
Although most of the scholars opine that no zakat has to be
paid on diamonds, pearls, sapphires, rubies, corals, or other
precious stones that women wear as ornaments and unless they
are used for trade, it is piety and a measure to be saved
from the obligation of zakat, which is both God's and people's
right on rich people, to make some payment due to them. One
should not buy such precious stones in order to avoid paying
zakat.
Banknotes, Checks, and Bonds. As these are documents with
guaranteed credits, banknotes, checks, and bonds are subject
to zakat, at the rate of one-fortieth of their value, when
they are owned for one year and attain the minimum of nisab
(being equal in value to 200 silver dirhams). A person may
change them into currency immediately. They are combined with
currencies, gold and silver, and commercial merchandise.
Commercial Merchandise. Any commercial merchandise that is
religiously lawful to use, consume, buy, and sell (e.g.,
clothes, grain, iron, copper, cattle, sheep, houses, shops,
and cars) is subject to zakat. Their due is one-fortieth.
Due to gold's stable value, jurists maintain that it should
be the basis upon which the nisab of commercial merchandise
is determined.
Buildings and Vehicles of Transportation That Are Sources
of Income. One who rents out a house, a shop, tools, vehicles,
or land, or who has vehicles working in transportation, must
pay zakat on the rent and income received. If their annual
revenue is equal to nisab, after the money spent on them is
deducted, the owner pays their zakat every month. Since they
are compared with land and land products, their zakat rate
is one-tenth.
Industrial Investments and Means of Production. These items
are currently among the greatest sources of income. Although
people's private houses, tools, and machines by which they
earn their living are not subject to zakat, industrial investments
and means of production (e.g., factories) are, for they are
growing and sources of revenue. Some jurists compare them
to land and land products, and say that their zakat rate is
one-tenth. Others compare them to commercial activities and
merchandise, and say that their zakat rate is one-fortieth
of the value remaining after debts, expenses on necessary
material, workmanship, production, marketing, and financing
have been subtracted.
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Wages, Salaries, and Independent Businesses. Since wages,
salaries, and earnings from independent businesses are steady
and continuous and potentially growing, they are subject to
zakat if the amount remaining after the yearly average expenditure
on livelihood reaches nisab. The rate is one-fortieth. Although
there are diverse standards of living, Muslims do not think
of living a comfortable life when the majority of Muslims
and humanity are living a below-average life. Some jurists
say that this type of zakat should be paid after one year;
others say that it should be paid monthly.
Cattle, Sheep, and Goats. Cattle, camels, sheep, and goats
are subject to zakat. They must be commercial or grazing,
and have been in one's possession for a year. The nisab of
each is as follows:
- When one has 5 grazing camels for one year, their due
is 1 sheep, which is also the due for 5 to 9 camels. The due
for 10 to 14 camels is 2 sheep, for 15 to 19 camels is 3 sheep,
and for 20 to 24 camels is 4 sheep. The due for 25 to 35 camels
is a 2-year-old she-camel, for 36 to 45 is a 3 year-old she-camel,
for 46 to 60 is a 4-year-old she-camel, for 61 to 75 is 5-year-old
she-camel, for 76 to 90 is 2 3-year-old she-camels, and for
91 to 120 is 2 5-years-old she-camels.
- The nisab for cattle is 30. For 30 to 40 heads of cattle,
a 2.5-year-old male or female weaned calf; for 40 to 60, a
3-year-old weaned calf; for 60, 2 1-year-old calves. When
there are more than 60 heads of cattle, the rate is 1 calf
for each 30 heads and 1 weaned calf for each 40 heads.
- When one has 40 sheep or goats, their due is 1 sheep
or goat. For 40 to 120 it is the same, for 120 to 200 it is
2 sheep, for 200 to 399 it is 3 sheep, and for 400 to 500
it is 4 sheep.
Farm Products. The zakat on farm products is paid when they
are har-vested. One must calculate them in advance if he or
she wants to use or benefit from them. Most scholars maintain
than their nisab is about 50 quarters, that is, if one has
that amount of farm products, one must pay their zakat. The
due for farm products naturally irrigated (with rain) is one-tenth;
if they are irrigated by their owner, who must pay the related
expenses, the due is one-twentieth.
Minerals, Mines, Buried Treasure, and Sea Products. The zakat
on such items is one-fifth. If a buried treasure is found
in a land whose owner is unknown or belongs to the state,
one-fifth of it is given as zakat and the rest belongs to
the finder. If it is found in a land whose owner is known,
one-fifth is given to the owner. Scholars have ruled that
there is no nisab for such items. However, some maintain that
when these items are worth about 600 dirhams of silver or
90 grams of gold, zakat must be paid.
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Recipients
Scholars have divided property into two categories: hidden
(kept at home, such as money, gold, and silver) and property
kept in the open (e.g., animals and farm products). During
the Prophet's lifetime and that of the caliphs, zakat was
collected by officials appointed for that purpose. There was
even a special zakat fund in the state budget. In later times,
the state began to collect zakat on the property in the open
and let the owners of hidden properties take care of it by
themselves.
Muslims or Muslim communities must find a good, preferable
way to collect zakat in the absence of an Islamic authority
and distribute it properly, as mentioned in 9:60. They are:
- Poor people who do not earn enough to keep themselves
and their families alive.
- The destitute who cannot meet their basic needs.
- Zakat collectors.
- Those whose hearts, due to their weak Islam, need to
be reconciled or strengthened for Islam; whose hearts can
be swayed toward Islam; or those whose evil against Islam
and the Muslims could be avoided.
- To free Muslim prisoners-of-war and emancipate slaves.
- To help those who are overburdened with debt.
- To support those who exalt God's word, strive for God's
cause (mujahidun), and provide for students and pilgrims.
- Travelers, either at home or abroad.
The recipients of zakat are mentioned in the following verse:
The prescribed alms are meant only for the poor and those
in destitution (although, out of self-respect, they do not
give the impression that they deserve help); those in charge
of collecting and administering them; those whose hearts or
friendship and support are to be won over for God's cause,
(including those whose hostilities might be prevented thereby);
to free those in the bondage of slavery and captivity; to
help those overburdened with debt; and in God's way (to exalt
God's word, to provide for students and help pilgrims); and
for the wayfarer (in need of help). This is an ordinance from
God. God has full knowledge of everything, All-Wise. (9:60)
Zakat is distributed among the recipients according to their
need and priority, assigned to those in greater need, or
according to circumstances. But zakat is not voluntary charity
given to please the poor or needy; rather, it is spent to
eradicate poverty, provide capital for the needy in order
to save them from their need, to fill the gaps between classes,
or to prevent such gaps from appearing in society.
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Sadaqa al-Fitr (The Charity of Fast-Breaking)
Sadaqa al-fitr must be paid by every free Muslim whose wealth
meets one's basic needs and has extra wealth equal to 600
grams of silver. A Muslim must pay it for himself, his wife,
children, and servants at the end of Ramadan to purify those
who fast, to protect them from indecent act or speech, and
to help the poor and needy. It is given before the 'Iyd prayer
on the 'Iyd (Religious Festive) Day. One who forgets to pay
it, or cannot pay it at this time due to some valid excuse,
must pay it when one remembers it or has no more excuse.
Traditionally, sadaqat al-fitr has been calculated on the
basis of, and paid as, wheat, barley, dates, and dried grapes.
However, the amount to be paid must be sufficient to meet
an average person's daily food intake. It can be paid either
in the kind, as mentioned above, or in its monetary equivalence.
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Infaq (Spending in God's Way)
Islam views wealth realistically - as an essential aspect
of life and the main means of individual and group subsistence.
God Almighty says: Do not give to those devoid of good judgment
and sanity your property, which God has put in your charge
as means of support for you (and the needy) (4:5). This amounts
to saying that wealth is to be distributed to meet basic needs
(e.g., food, clothing, lodging, and other indispensables),
and that no one is to be lost, forgotten, or left without
support. The best way to distribute wealth so that everyone's
basic needs are met is through zakat, for it places no burden
upon the wealthy, meets the basic needs of the poor, and relieves
them of life's hardships and deprivation's pain.
Zakat is not a favor of the wealthy to the poor; rather, it
is a due that God entrusted to the rich so that they might
deliver it to the poor and distribute it among the deserving.
This establishes the following truth: Wealth is not exclusively
for the rich, but for the rich and the poor. This is what
is meant by God's saying: so that this (wealth) may not circulate
solely among the rich from among you (59:7). Zakat must be
paid by those who can pay it, and must be given to the poor
and the needy so that they can meet their basic needs, not
go hungry, and acquire a sense of security and general well-being.
If there is not enough zakat to meet such needs, the rich
can be subjected to further taxation. How much should be taken
is not specified, for that depends upon the needs of the poor.
The Qur'an urges the wealthy to spend in God's way and for
His cause. For example, in praising the believers, it declares:
They spend in God's way (of whatever God has bestowed upon
them) both in ease and hardship, restrain their rage (even
though they are able to retaliate and avenge), and pardon
people their offenses. God loves (such) people devoted to
doing good, conscious that God always sees them. (3:134)
They establish the (prescribed) prayer (in awe and veneration
of God and in conformity with its conditions), and spend as
subsistence out of what-ever We provide for them (of wealth,
knowledge, power, and so on to those really in need purely
for His good pleasure and without placing others under obligation).
(8:3)
The Qur'an tells us to give from what we love and not to place
people under obligation because of what we spend in God's
way or give to them:
Those who spend their wealth in God's way and then do not
follow up what they have spent with placing under obligation
and taunting, their reward is with their Lord. There shall
be no fear on them (both in this world and the next, for they
shall always find My help and support with them), nor shall
they grieve. A kind word and forgiving (people's faults) are
better than almsgiving followed by taunting. God is All-Wealthy
and Self-Sufficient, (absolutely independent of people's charity),
All-Clement (Who shows no haste in chastising). (2:262-63)
You will never be able to attain godliness until you spend
of what you love (in God's way or as sustenance to the needy).
Whatever you spend, God has full knowledge of it. (3:92)
Spend (of whatever you have) in God's way, and do not cast
yourselves into destruction with your own hands (by refraining
from doing so). Whatever you do, do it, conscious that God
sees it, and in the best way possible. God loves those who
are devoted to doing good, conscious that God always sees
them. (2:195)
God promises great reward to those who spend their wealth
in His way, and warns against being miserly and spending only
to attract people's attention:
The example of those who spend their wealth in God's way is
like that of a grain that sprouts seven ears, and in every
ear there are a hundred grains. Thus God multiplies for whomever
He wills. God is One Who embraces all (with His mercy), All-Knowing.
(2:261)
Those who act miserly (in spending of what God has granted
them) and urge others to be miserly, and conceal the things
God has granted them out of His bounty (such as wealth and
certain truths in their Book), We have prepared for (such)
disbelievers a shameful, humiliating chastisement. And (also)
those who spend their wealth (in charity or for another good
cause) to make a show of it to people and be praised by them,
when they believe neither in God nor in the Last Day. Whoever
has Satan for a comrade, how evil a comrade he is!! (4:37-38)
Another point to stress here is that generalizing certain
matters sometimes has caused great misunderstanding and wrong
applications, as in the cases of condemning the world and
asceticism. Humanity is God's vicegerent on Earth, meaning
that people have the right to interfere with things (i.e.,
the ecological equilibrium and 'nature's" universal laws)
within the bounds established by God, improve Earth, and rule
it in God's name and according to His laws. This duty falls
first of all upon believers, because denying God in any way
severs the link between God and humanity and makes people
beings who shed blood and cause unrest upon Earth.
Since maintaining human existence depends upon belief and
the existence of a formidable group of believers with the
potential to bear the Divine Trust, Earth's Divine bounties
belong, first of all, to believers. In return, they are obliged
to administer them and distribute them justly among people.
Thus, they are to use Earth's bounties in accordance with
God's Will, and to thank Him in return. However, they are
forbidden to go beyond the lawful limits in benefiting from
them and make eating and drinking the goal of their lives.
In addition to engendering competitive clashes over such items,
overconsumption also leads to accumulated energy that, if
not controlled, causes such destructive sins as adultery and
prostitution. So, to avoid such destruction, individuals
can adapt, and are even advised to embrace, asceticism. But
the Muslim community cannot leave earthly bounties, as well
as their administration and distribution, to others in the
name of asceticism. As Bediüzzaman Said Nursi puts it,
believers must not set their hearts on the world but must
work and earn to maintain themselves, uphold God's Word, and
spend in His way.
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