Zakat — Obligatory Charity

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, an obligatory act of worship through wealth. The word "zakat" means both "purification" and "growth," reflecting its dual role: it purifies the giver's wealth and soul, and it grows the well-being of the community. Allah says: "Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase" (Quran 9:103). Withholding zakat is a grave sin with severe warnings in the Quran and Sunnah.

Who Must Pay Zakat

Zakat is obligatory upon every free, adult, sane Muslim who possesses wealth above the nisab (minimum threshold) for one full lunar year (hawl). The nisab is defined as the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. The Hanafi school does not require the person to be adult or sane; they hold that zakat is due on a child's wealth, with the guardian responsible for paying it. The majority (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) restrict the obligation to adults of sound mind.

What Is Subject to Zakat

Zakat applies to several categories of wealth: gold and silver (including cash and savings), trade goods, agricultural produce, livestock (camels, cattle, sheep/goats), and certain minerals and treasures. The standard rate for gold, silver, and trade goods is 2.5%. Agricultural produce irrigated by rain is taxed at 10%, while irrigated crops are 5%. Each category of livestock has its own detailed schedule outlined in the hadith collections.

The Eight Recipients

The Quran specifies exactly eight categories of eligible zakat recipients in Surah al-Tawbah: "Zakah expenditures are only for the poor (fuqara) and the needy (masakin) and those employed to collect it and those whose hearts are to be reconciled and for freeing slaves and for those in debt and in the cause of Allah and for the stranded traveler" (Quran 9:60). Zakat may not be given to one's direct ascendants (parents, grandparents) or descendants (children, grandchildren), nor to the wealthy.

The Wisdom of Zakat

Zakat serves multiple purposes in Islamic society. It purifies the soul of the giver from greed and attachment to worldly possessions. It provides for the basic needs of the poor and prevents wealth from concentrating in the hands of a few. It creates solidarity and brotherhood within the Muslim community. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever pays the zakat on his wealth will have its evil removed from him" (Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah). Abu Bakr al-Siddiq famously declared war on those who refused to pay zakat after the Prophet's death, saying: "By Allah, I will fight those who differentiate between prayer and zakat."