Zakat: A Dereliction of Duty?

In describing the essential traits of the God-conscious; the muttaqun, the Qur’an informs [2:3] that they are those who believe in the unseen, establish the prayer, and spend out of what We have given them. Ibn Kathir, a classical scholar of the Qur’an commentary, wrote as part of his exegesis to the above verse: “God frequently pairs together prayer and spending in charity. Prayer is a right of God and an act of devotion to Him. This [right] involves singling Him out for worship, praising Him, extolling His glory, earnestly invoking Him, petitioning Him, and trusting in Him. Spending, by contrast, is part of benevolence towards creation through reaching out to help them.”1

Revelation is filled with examples of pairing these two rights or huquq: the rights of God, and the rights of creation. For example, we read in the Qur’an [2:83]: “Worship none save God, and show kindness to your parents.” Also [17:23]: Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you show kindness to your parents. Then there is the oft-repeated Qur’anic stricture [22:78]: Observe the prayer and pay the zakat.

The hadith canons cite the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: “Be conscious of God wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out. And behave well towards people.”2 The first half of this prophetic instruction alerts us to God’s rights; the second, the rights due to others. In a similar encounter comes the hadith: “Arrogance is to reject the truth,” thereby violating God’s right, “and to scorn others.”3

This pairing is so intrinsic to our faith that religious observance, in its entirety, can be said to revolve around huququ’Llah wa huquq al-’ibad – the right of God, and rights of creation. Ibn Rajab, however, makes a timely observation in this respect which we would do well to pay heed to. He says that, “Many in whom attentiveness in fulfilling the rights of God predominate, and who are devoted to God’s love, fear and obedience, either totaly neglect the rights of creation, or fall short with respect to them.”4

Spending

The “spending (infaq) out of what God has given” in the above verse takes on two forms of giving. One is sadaqah – the spending of which is voluntary; the other, zakat – the spending of which is mandatory. The term sadaqah (usually translated as “alms” or “charity”) covers, not just the giving of money to the deserving poor, but also the giving of one’s self: one’s talents, one’s learning, or simply one’s time. The act is seen as meritorious in and of itself purely on altruistic grounds. However, the spiritual significance of sadaqah should not be overlooked. For the giving of regular sadaqah attracts madad: the flow of divine assistance, and helps repel misfortune.

Zakat, a word that signifies growth, blessings and also purification,5 is that type of spending which the Qur’an deems mandatory on all Muslims who possess surplus financial means at their disposal. The payment of zakat is, therefore, a way by which a Muslim’s wealth may be made pure and sacred – so long as, of course, one seeks the Divine pleasure by it: He who gives his wealth to purify himself, not in return for any favour done to him, seeking only the Countenance of his Lord, Most High. He will be well-pleased. [92:18-21]

Zakat as Spiritual & Social Technology

It is not just one’s wealth that is purified through the act of paying zakat, but also one’s self. For the nafs, or ego, is purified from the blemish of greed and selfishness when giving freely of one’s wealth: And whoever is saved from his own avarice will surely succeed. [59:9]

With its spiritual significance affirmed, one cannot overlook zakat’s all important social function. Islam’s vision of society is rooted in the idea of compassion, service and responsibility; and no where is this better seen than in the giving and dispensing of zakat. For zakat is to be utilised, first and foremost, for the poor and the needy, so as to alleviate the problem of poverty. In other words, the “haves”of the society are to help lift the burden of the “have nots” in the spirit of service and brotherhood. In summing-up the spiritual and social virtues of zakat, Shah Wali Allah wrote: “Know that there are two purposes behind zakat: a purpose linked to disciplining the soul; this due to the presence of avarice in it … And a purpose associated with the city, for it will certainly include those who are poor and needy.”6

Shouldn’t Charity Begin at Home?

Zakat is, strictures the Qur’an, only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect it, and for those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for the ransom of captives, and the debtors, and in the path of God, and the wayfarers. This is an obligation from God, and God is All-Knowing, All-Wise. [9:60] Juristic details aside, the main forms of wealth on which zakat is levied includes gold and silver, livestock, agricultural produce, minerals, stocks and shares, currency and other liquid assets. A percentage of this wealth (two and a half percent in the case of gold and silver, stocks and share, and all wealth held in monetary form) is to be disbursed to the eight sectors, or categories, mentioned in the above verse.7

In a foundational hadith on the topic we read that the Prophet, peace be upon him, when sending Mu’adh to Yemen, instructed him: “O Mu’adh, you are going to a community who are of the People of the Book, so first invite them to bear witness that none deserves worship save God, and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger. If they accept this, then inform them that God enjoins upon them five prayers in a day and a night. If they accept this, then inform them that God obligates charity [i.e. zakat] upon them; to be taken from their rich and given to their poor.”8

Based on the words: “to be taken from their rich and given to their poor,” jurists from the four Sunni schools of law, or madhhabs, say that zakat, as a rule of thumb, should be distributed locally in the region or area and not be transferred abroad. The Hanbali school stipulates: “It is preferred to disburse all of the zakat to the poor of his area. It is not permitted to transfer it to [a location] where prayer is to be shortened [if one traveled to it] – though if one does so it suffices – unless there are no poor persons in the land, in which case he is to distribute it in the land closest to him.”9 The Shafi’i madhhab states: “If the [eight] catagories are found in the place where zakat is collected, it is prohibitted and invalid to transfer the zakat elsewhere – except if it is being distributed by the head of state, in which case he may transfer it to another place.”10 The Malikis hold that transfering zakat is impermissible, except if there is a pressing need to do so.11 The Hanafi school is more concillatory on the issue. It states that, “It is disapproved to transfer the zakat of one land to another; unless he transfers it to his poor relatives, or to a people needier than his own.”12 This, incidentally, is also the preferred view of Ibn Taymiyyah. What all this tells us is that, in general, the poor of a city have greater claim over local zakat than the pooror needy elsewhere: accepting that some scholars permit sending it abroad for familial or pressing reasons.

Who Needs My Zakat Here Anyway?

“There are no poor Muslims in Britain,” is a common response to the suggestion that zakat should be disbursed here in the country. But is this true? No poor Muslims? Even if it were, what of the other catagories of zakat recipients; are they absent from Britain too? The reality is markedly different from the populist Muslim perception. There are many poor and needy Muslim households in Britain, exarcebated by growing levels of immigration into the U.K.; many of whom are Muslims seeking work, refuge or political asylum. Then there is the catagory of the mu’allafat al-qulub – “those whose hearts are to be reconciled.” This includes those recent converts to Islam who are alienated from their family, or people whose faith needs strengthening in general. Some jurists have included in this non-Muslims whose hearts can be softened to Islam, or who are willing to assist an Islamic cause but need to be compensated. There is also the category of the gharimun: those burdened with debts contracted in good faith, through no fault of their own, which they subsequently cannot redeem. As for the category of fi sabili’Llah, “for the path of God,” in our country this would include support for students occupied in learning the shari‘ah sciences. With the above in mind, it would seem that while we concern ourselves with the plight of others across the globe, there continues to be some serious dereliction of duty here at home.

Having Vision

Having a social conscience with regards to the plight of Britain’s Muslim communities is in no way to ignore the poverty and starvation which afflicts millions of Muslims in other parts of the globe. British Muslims will have to learn to discharge their obligations to both, in light of the priority determined by the Sacred Law. It could be argued that, by putting our own house in order first, it would, in all probability, help us to better help others in the long run. Whatever the case be, we need to rethink the issue of how best to deploy our zakat; of how best to help restore dignity to the needy and the impoverished.

SURKHEEL (ABU AALIYAH) SHARIF

Notes

• 1. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Qur’an al-‘Adhim (Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah, 1987), 1:45.
  2. Al-Tirmidhi, Sunan, no.2053, where he said: “The hadith is hasan sahih.”
  3. Muslim, Sahih, no.147.
  4. Jami‘ al-‘Ulum wa’l-Hikam (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Risalah, 1998), 1:454.
  5. As per al-Raghib, Mufradat Alfaz al-Qur’an (Damascus: Dar al-Qalam, 2002), 380-81.
  6. Hujjatu’Llah al-Balighah (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 2001), 2:69-70.
  7. The fiqh details that make a person liable for paying zakat, and to whom and how such monies should be disbursed, are issues for which the lay people must consult a qualified scholar.
  8. Al-Bukhari, Sahih, no.1496.
  9. Al-Hajjawi, Zad al-Mustaqni‘ (Riyadh: Madar al-Watn li’l-Nashr, 2004), 78.
  10. Ibn Naqib, Reliance of the Traveller (trans. N.H. Keller, Maryland: Amana Publications, 1994), 272-3.
  11. Cited in al-Bassam, Tawdih al-Ahkam min Bulugh al-Maram (Makkah: Maktabah al-Nahdah al-Hadithah, 1994), 3:27.
  12. Al-Zayla’i, Nasab al-Rayah (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 2002), 2:423.