Zakat - English Course
ALSI > Question Papers
THE OBLIGATION OF ZAKAT
The Hidaayah describes zakaat as follows: “Zakaat is obligatory for each free, sane and major Muslim when he owns the minimum amount when a year has passed over such ownership.” It is based on the verse that says, “Pay the zakaat,” and on the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him), “Pay zakaat on your wealth.”…
THE CAUSE OF OBLIGATION OF ZAKAT
The cause of the obligation of zakaat is maal, which means wealth or property. Wealth as a cause is associated with the affluence of the owner, and such affluence is determined by the ownership of a certain minimum amount of property or wealth, where such minimum scale is called the niṣaab…
DOES NON-PAYMENT OF ZAKAT JUSTIFY PUNISHMENT
After the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away, some Arab tribes declined to pay zakaat, while others renounced Islam, or they refused to pay zakaat even when they did not renounce Islam. The first Caliph Aboo Bakr (God be pleased with him) adopted a firm stance considering those who refused to pay zakaat as apostates…
IMPLICATION OF ZAKAT AS A RIGHT OF THE POOR
Zakaat is a definitive obligation and must be paid by every individual who is covered by the obligation. The main reason why Islamic law is so strict about the payment of zakaat is that it is a right of the poor. For the same reason,…
ZAKAT AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
From the perspective of the Ummah or society as a whole, zakaat is the foundation of the Islamic distributive justice system. Together with the prohibition of ribaa or interest, Zakaat determines the nature of the Islamic economic system…
CATEGORIES OF WEALTH AND NISAB OF ZAKAT
The unqualified use of the term wealth for zakaat means all kinds of wealth, where an exemption can only be through a text. Niṣaab, which is different for different kinds of property, serves as a standard for classifying liable property. First come pasturing animals that have an independent nisaab…
ZAKAT IS PAID TO THE GOVERNMENT OR THE BENEFICIARY?
Wealth is divided into two broad types. The first are the amwaal zaahirah or visible wealth, while the second are amwaal baaṭinah or hidden wealth. Visible wealth is wealth that can be seen and verified by a normal observer, while invisible wealth is wealth concealed from view, like gold, silver, currency and even debts…
KINDS OF ZAKAT DUE TODAY
Zakaat should be paid at: Two and a half percent on gold when it reaches 20 deenaars or seven and a half tolas; Two and a half percent on silver when it reaches 200 dirhams or fifty-two and a half tolas…
THINGS NOT INCLUDED IN THE NISAB OF ZAKAT
The Hidaayah says: There is no zakaat on residential houses, personal clothing, household assets, riding animals, slaves for personal service and weapons kept for use. As they are employed for meeting primary needs, and they do not grow either…
ARE DEBTS OWED EXCLUDED FROM WEALTH FOR PURPOSES OF THE NISAB?
The Hidaayah says: “If a person has a debt that covers his entire wealth, there is no obligation of zakāt on him.” This means that after deducting the debt if sufficient wealth is left over to constitute the nisaab, then he will be liable…
IS ACTIVATION OF PROPERTY REQUIRED FOR ZAKAT
The word zakaat, besides purification, means growth and increase. Growth here means potential growth depending upon some kind of activation. Activation means the state of readiness of wealth for growth either through trade or pasturing. No activation is required for gold and silver, or cash, as they are by their very nature readied for growth…
COMBINING TYPES OF WEALTH FOR ZAKAT
The nisaab for trading goods and paper currency is worked out by valuing them in terms of the nisaab of gold or silver. The Hidaayah says: “Zakaat is obligatory on goods of trade, whatever their nature, as long as their value reaches the niṣaab valued in silver or gold…
DEBTS, RENTAL INCOME AND ZAKAT
The issue of rental property is extremely important, but there is some confusion in associating it with one of the established categories. Almost all modern scholars treat rent like regular income and add it to savings, which are subjected to zakaat after the passage of one year…
ZAKAT ON PARTNERSHIPS AND COMPANIES
Zakaat on businesses may be viewed through the three forms of business: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporations. The rule of combining assets will apply to the sole proprietorship. The Hidaayah says: The value of the (trading) goods is to be added to the gold and silver so as to complete the niṣaab…
ZAKAT AND COMPANY SHARES
Modern scholars, who do not study company law, are confused about the shareholders being owners of companies. Company law tells us that, according to principles established over the last few centuries, the shareholders or their income from shares or their personal businesses have nothing to do with the businesses of the relevant companies and their assets…
REVISITING THE NISAB OF ZAKAT
When a person possesses gold, silver, cash and trading goods, the value of all four things has to be combined to work out the nisaab. The valuation is carried out in silver, and the total of all four things should come to fifty-two and a half tolas of silver…
THE EIGHT CATEGORIES TO WHOM ZAKAT IS TO BE PAID
The eight categories of persons to whom zakaat has to be paid are mentioned in a verse of the Quraan. The first two of these are the poor and the needy. Of these the faqeer is one who has meagre resources, while the miskeen is one who has nothing. The third category consists of workers who collect and manage zakaat…
CAN THE ENTIRE ZAKAT BE PAID TO ONE OF THE EIGHT ENTITLED CATEGORIES?
There are eight recognized avenues of zakaat, that is, categories of persons to whom a person can pay zakaat. One of these was dropped due to non-existence, leaving behind seven categories…
PAYING TO ONE PERSON EQUAL TO THE NISAB OR MORE
It is not permitted to pay zakaat to a person who owns wealth equal to the nisaab. The basis is that being wealthy legally is determined through the nisaab. The condition is that such wealth be in excess of the primary needs, and wealth owned must have potential for growth…
MOVING ZAKAT OF ONE AREA TO ANOTHER
The rule is that it is disapproved to move the zakaat of one land to another. The zakat of each group of people is to be distributed among their poor on the basis of the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him)…
ZAKAT, TAXES AND THE STATE
A question is raised as to whether zakat still needs to be paid once we have paid our taxes. In Islaam, there are two broad categories of rights: the right of Allaah and the right of the ruler or the community. Zakaat is claimed and owed as a right of Allaah, just like salaat…
PERSONS TO WHOM ZAKAAT CANNOT BE PAID
It is not permitted to pay zakaat to a non-Muslim, nor to a person who is wealthy, that is, one who possesses the nisaab besides things that are necessities of personal use. A donor is not to pay it to his father and grandfather howsoever high, nor is he to pay it to his child,…
TASKS NOT TO BE FUNDED WITH ZAKAT
Certain admirable tasks are not eligible for funding through zakaat. A mosque is not to be built with zakaat funds, nor is a shroud to be provided with it, because ownership cannot be passed in these cases, as it is an essential element of zakaat…
NO REPETION OF PAYMENT IF ZAKAT PAID IN ERROR
Aboo Haneefah and Muhammad (God bless them) said that if a person pays zakaat to another on the assumption that he is poor, but it turns out that he is rich or a Haashimite or an unbeliever or he had paid in the dark and it turned out to be his father or son, then he is under no obligation to repay the zakaat…
PAYING OFF LOANS WITH ZAKAT
One of the eight categories mentioned in the Quraan to whom zakaat has to be paid is the debtor. The word for debtor used in the text means, according to some jurists, a person who is liable for the payment of debt and does not possess a nisaab that is in excess of this debt…
PAYING ZAKAT TO THE REFUGEE
Among the eight categories of beneficiaries, two may be mentioned here. The first is the veteran, who upon return from battle has become destitute. He belongs to the category of those striving in the path of Allaah. According to Imaam Muhannad, he is a person who has become destitute after the pilgrimage…
CAN A HUSBAND PAY ZAKAT TO HIS WIFE AND VICE-VERSA?
The Hidaayah says that the person paying zakaat is not to pay it to his immediate family members as he is under a duty to support them anyway, besides this their property is intertwined. He is also not to pay it to his wife for the same reason, nor is the wife to pay it to him. This is the view according to Aboo Haneefah…
CAN I PAY ZAKAT TO MY PERSONAL SERVANT?
In the early days, the question arose about payment of zakaat to one’s slave. There were different categories of slaves, and for all of them the rule was that zakaat is not to be paid to them by their master. The reason was the same in all cases that ownership in the money will not pass to them, …
CAN MUSLIMS PAY ZAKAT TO NON-MUSLIMS
The Hidaayah says: “It is not permitted to pay zakaat to a zimmee,” due to the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) addressed to Mu’aaz (God be pleased with him), “Take it from their rich and return it to their poor.” The word “their” in the tradition means Muslims…
PAYING ZAKAT TO A CHARITY OR A HOSPITAL
An essential condition of zakaat is that the beneficiary be made an owner of the amount given, except for pasturing animals. Payment to an intermediary for allocation among or spending on a group of beneficiaries violates this vital condition. The jurists insist that zakaat belongs to the poor beneficiaries as a matter of right…
PAYING ZAKAT TO A MADRASSAH
An essential condition of zakaat is that the beneficiary be made an exclusive owner of the amount given, pasturing animals being an exception. Payment to an intermediary for general allocation or spending on a group of beneficiaries violates this vital condition…
ZAKAT ON MINERAL WEALTH
Minerals like gold, silver, iron, copper and so on, things that can be melted down and given shape are considered as war booty, and a fifth out of these is allocated to the poor, just like booty. Liquid minerals like mercury are also included, as is mineral oil…
RIGHT OF THE POOR IN MINERAL OIL
The poor citizens of a country have a direct share in the mineral wealth of that country. This right is up to a fifth in the minerals mined or extracted, according to the Hanafee school, and it is subject to zakaat at two and a half percent according to others…
ZAKAT ON THE BASIS OF LAND
Land may be considered to fall into three categories: land used for agricultural purposes; land that is rented out for some purpose; and land bought and sold for trade. Land given out on rent becomes a trading good. This will also apply to open plots leased out for commercial purposes…