Religion, Wealth and Poverty

Muslim teachings on wealth and poverty are that the poor and needy should receive zakah. Zakah is the Arabic tense which means, “To purify and to cleanse”. This is why Muslims pay 2.5% of their earnings and profits once every year to the zakah funds. Zakah is known as the third pillar of Islam, so all Muslims must pay this as it is also commanded in the Quran that

“The people who believe in Allah are those who offer their salah and give zakah, for them will be the reward of everlasting gardens and under the gardens will be streams running and the people will be living there forever and ever”. (Surah 9: 71)

        Some people believe that giving Zakah is to give all your money, but giving Zakah is only 2.5% of you wealth and that is not a lot. It is like giving a couple of pounds out of hundred pounds. Wealth is a blessing that is given by Allah and so it is for the whole world, so we should remove greediness from our hearts and give money to the poor and needy. In addition to maintain a lot of wealth is not the best of ideas one could come up with, as every living man and woman on this earth is only here for a short period of time, so then having a lot of wealth will not do you any good for your life after death. It is said in Hadith that

“Even if you are possessed with all the gold in the world, you still cannot afford to buy a place in the hereafter”.

        What's more is that zakah is compulsory on mature Muslims living on this earth, whose amount of earnings determines the payment of zakah. According to the lunar year zakah is only given once, so then not paying the cost could lead to questions on the day of judgement. Also it is very important that we do not take zakah as a tax which Muslims are forced to pay, this is because a clever person can always getaway as there is no book which records the amount you pay. But moderately zakah teaches us to be honest in our earnings and belongings.

        Zakah is not a charity. Charity is something which is optional and can be given anytime throughout the year. But rather, zakah is a health form of internal security against selfish, greedy and social dissension; zakah can be given to people who are masaarif as the Quran says

“Zakah (contributions of cash money, merchandise and animals etc) is for those people who need it and people who collect it, and for those whose hearts are to be reconciled and free the captives and the debtors, for travellers in need , a duty ordained by Allah (SWT) is known wise.”

(Surah Taubah: 60)

        However zakah can also be given to welfare organisations which look after the poor and needy people. It can also be given to Islamic schools, to Muslim students and researchers, who are in need. However, a person giving zakah should use his utmost ability in finding out where the zakah is being spent and also in finding the most deserving people. It is narrated in one of the Hadith’s of the prophet (s.a.w) that

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“He who eats and drinks whilst his brother goes hungry is not from one of us.” (Bukhari)

        Sadqah is also known as a Muslim teaching which is giving money to charity. Sadqah is under a lot of forms, from which one is known as sadqah-e-jariah, which is giving money to help a businessperson for a successful business or helping the people for their scholarship, and it is an obligatory, which is not compulsory, and you do not have to pay. Another type of Sadqah is Sadaqah-e-Fitr which is compulsory to give after Ramadan for any mistakes you had ...

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