Charity is not just recommended by Islam, it is required
of every financially stable Muslim. Giving charity to those who deserve it is
part of Muslim character and one of the Five Pillars of Islamic practice. Zakat
is viewed as “compulsory charity”; it is an obligation for those who have
received their wealth from God to respond to those members of the community in
need. Devoid of sentiments of universal love, some people know only to hoard wealth
and to add to it by lending it out on interest. Islam’s teachings are the very
antithesis of this attitude. Islam encourages the sharing of wealth with
others and helps people to stand on their own and become productive members of
the society.
In Arabic it is known as zakat which
literally means “purification”, because zakat is considered to purify
one’s heart of greed. Love of wealth is natural and it takes firm belief in
God for a person to part with some of his wealth. Zakat must be paid on
different categories of property — gold, silver, money; livestock; agricultural
produce; and business commodities — and is payable each year after one year’s
possession. It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s
wealth and assets.
Like prayer, which is both an individual and communal
responsibility, zakat expresses a Muslim’s worship of and thanksgiving
to God by supporting those in need. In Islam, the true owner of things is not
man, but God. Acquisition of wealth for its own sake, or so that it may
increase a man’s worth, is condemned. Mere acquisition of wealth counts for nothing
in the sight of God. It does not give man any merit in this life or in the
hereafter. Islam teaches that people should acquire wealth with the intention
of spending it on their own needs and the needs of others.
“‘Man’, said the Prophet, ‘says: My wealth! My
wealth!’ Have you not any wealth except that which you give as alms and thus
preserve, wear and tatter, eat and use up?”
The whole concept of wealth is considered in Islam as a gift
from God. God, who provided it to the person, made a portion of it for the
poor, so the poor have a right over one’s wealth. Zakat reminds Muslims
that everything they have belongs to God. People are given their wealth as a
trust from God, and zakat is intended to free Muslims from the love of
money. The money paid in zakat is not something God needs or receives.
He is above any type of dependency. God, in His boundless mercy, promises
rewards for helping those in need with one basic condition that zakat be
paid in the name of God; one should not expect or demand any worldly gains from
the beneficiaries nor aim at making one’s name as a philanthropist. The
feelings of a beneficiary should not be hurt by making him feel inferior or reminding
him of the assistance.
Money given as zakat can only be used for certain specific things. Islamic Law stipulates that alms are to be used to support the poor and the needy, to free slaves and debtors, as specifically mentioned in the Quran (9:60). Zakat, which developed fourteen hundred years ago, functions as a form of social security in a Muslim society.
Neither Jewish nor Christian scriptures praise slave
manumission by raising it to worship. Indeed, Islam is unique in world
religions in requiring the faithful to financially help slaves win their
freedom and has raised the manumission of a slave to an act of worship – if it
is done to please God.
Under the caliphates, the collection and expenditure of zakat
was a function of the state. In the contemporary Muslim world, it has been
left up to the individual, except in some countries in which the state fulfills
that role to some degree. Most Muslims in the West disperse zakat
through Islamic charities, mosques, or directly giving to the poor. Money is
not collected during religious services or via collection plates, but some mosques
keep a drop box for those who wish it to distribute zakat on their
behalf. Unlike the zakat, giving other forms of charity in private, even in
secret, is considered better, in order to keep one’s intention purely for the
God.
Apart from zakat, the Quran and Hadeeth (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him) also
stress sadaqah,
or voluntary almsgiving, which is intended for the needy. The Quran emphasizes
feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, helping those who are in need, and the more one helps, the more God helps the person, and the more one gives, the more God
gives the person. One feels he is taking care of others and God is taking care
of him.