|
1. The Obligation of Zakah
وَأَقِيمُوا
الصَّلَاةَ
وَآتُوا
الزَّكَاةَ
وَأَقْرِضُوا
اللَّهَ
قَرْضًا
حَسَنًا
وَمَا
تُقَدِّمُوا
لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ
مِنْ خَيْرٍ
تَجِدُوهُ
عِنْدَ
اللَّهِ هُوَ
خَيْرًا
وَأَعْظَمَ
أَجْرًا (20:73).
And [in the daytime and at night] establish the
prayer and pay Zakah and [for the cause of your religion and state]
lend to Allah a befitting loan, and remember whatever good you send forth
for yourselves you shall find it with Allah better than before and greater
in reward. (73:20)
In the verse quoted above, and at numerous
other places in the Qur’an, Muslims are directed to pay Zakah
from their wealth. In religious parlance, Zakah means the wealth
given in the way of Allah to obtain purity of heart and to obtain the blessings
of Allah. The root of the word Zakah in Arabic has two meanings:
‘purity’ and ‘growth’. The words ‘purify them’ in the first and ‘people
who will increase their wealth’ in the second verse quoted below allude
to these two meanings of the word:
خُذْ
مِنْ
أَمْوَالِهِمْ
صَدَقَةً
تُطَهِّرُهُمْ
وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ
بِهَا (103:9).
Take alms from their wealth [O Prophet!] in order
to purify them with it. (9:103)
وَمَا
آتَيْتُمْ
مِنْ رِبًا
لِيَرْبُوَا
فِي
أَمْوَالِ
النَّاسِ فَلَا
يَرْبُوا
عِنْدَ
اللَّهِ
وَمَا
آتَيْتُمْ
مِنْ زَكَاةٍ
تُرِيدُونَ
وَجْهَ
اللَّهِ
فَأُوْلَئِكَ
هُمْ
الْمُضْعِفُونَ
(39:30).
That which you give as loan on interest that
it may increase on [other] people’s wealth, it has no increase with Allah;
but that which you give as Zakah, seeking Allah’s countenance, it
is these people who will increase their wealth [in the Hereafter].
(30:39)
Subsequently, this word was specifically
used for the wealth a Muslim gives to those in authority to meet the collective
requirements of a state. It is evident from the Qur’an that like
Salah
(prayer),
Zakah
has always remained an essential ingredient of the Shari‘ah given
to the Prophets of Allah. When the Almighty directed the Muslims to pay
Zakah,
it was not an unknown thing to them. All the followers of the religion
of Abraham (sws) were well aware of its philosophy as well as its rates
and statutory exemptions. Consequently, there was no need to state the
details of Zakah in the Qur’an. It was a pre-existing
Sunnah
which the Qur’an only revived and which the Prophet (sws), on the
Almighty’s bidding, established as a directive of the Shari‘ah
among
the Muslims. If, irrespective of the differences of the jurists in understanding
the concept of Zakah, the details of this directive which have reached
us through the consensus of the Companions of the Prophet (sws) and their
practical perpetuation, and which now stand validated through the consensus
of the Ummah are studied as regards their bases in the Shari‘ah,
then they can be stated as:
1. Items
Nothing except the tools of production,
personal items of daily use and a fixed quantity called nisab are
exempt from Zakah. It shall be levied annually on wealth of all
sorts, livestock of all types and produce of all forms of every Muslim
citizen who is liable to it. However, if some need arises, an Islamic State
can give relaxation on any item.
2. Exemption (Nisab)
The statutory exemptions (nisab)
in wealth, livestock and agricultural production are fixed as:
(a) Wealth: 5 ounces / 612
grams of silver or its equivalent
(b) Produce: 5 Wasaqs /
1119 kilograms of dates or their equivalent
(c) Livestock: 5 camels, 30
cows, 40 goats
3. Rates
(a) Wealth: 2 ½% annually
(b) Produce: (i) 5 %: on all
items which are produced by the interaction of both labor and capital,
(ii) 10 % on items which are produced such that the basic factor in producing
them is either labor or capital and (iii) 20% on items which are produced
neither as a result of capital nor labor but actually are a gift of God.
(c) Livestock
(i) CAMELS
– From 5 to 24 (camels): one she-goat
on every five camels
– From 25 to 35: one one-year old
she-camel or in its absence, one two-year old camel
– From 36 to 45: one two-year old
she-camel
– From 46 to 60: one three-year old
she-camel
– From 61 to 75: one four-year old
she-camel
– From 76 to 90: two two-year old
she-camels
– From 91 to 120: two three-year old
she-camels
– Over 120: one two-year old she-camel
on every forty camels and one three-year old on every fifty camels
(ii) COWS
– one one-year old calf on every thirty
cows and one two-year old calf on every forty cows
(iii) GOATS
– From 40 to 120: one she-goat
– From 121 to 200: two she-goats
– From 201 to 300: three she-goats
– Over 300: one she-goat on every
hundred goats
4. Heads
The heads for which Zakah is
to be spent were never unclear. It was always expended on the poor and
needy and on the collective requirements of the Muslims. However, when
the hypocrites in the time of the Prophet (sws) raised certain doubts about
these heads, the Qur’an unequivocally stated them:
إِنَّمَا
الصَّدَقَاتُ
لِلْفُقَرَاءِ
وَالْمَسَاكِينِ
وَالْعَامِلِينَ
عَلَيْهَا
وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ
قُلُوبُهُمْ
وَفِي
الرِّقَابِ
وَالْغَارِمِينَ
وَفِي
سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ
وَاِبْنِ
السَّبِيلِ
فَرِيضَةً
مِنْ اللَّهِ
وَاللَّهُ
عَلِيمٌ
حَكِيمٌ (60:9).
Zakah is only for the poor and the needy,
and for those who are ‘amils over it, and for those whose hearts are to
be reconciled [to the truth], and for the emancipation of the slaves and
for those who have been inflicted with losses and for the way of Allah
and for the welfare of the wayfarers. This is an obligation decreed by
the Almighty, the All-Knowing and the Wise. (9:60)
Here are some details of the heads of
Zakah
mentioned in this verse:
(a) ‘الْفُقَرَاءِ
وَالْمَسَاكِينِ’
(al-fuqara wa’l-masakin): The poor and the needy.
(b) ‘الْعَامِلِينَ
عَلَيْهَا’
(al-‘amilina
‘alayha):1 the salaries
of all employees of the state.
(c) ‘الْمُؤَلَّفَةِ
قُلُوبُهُمْ’ (al-mu’allafat-i-qulubuhum):
all political expenditures in the interest of Islam and the Muslims.
(d) ‘فِي
الرِّقَابِ’’ (fi’l-riqab):
for liberation from slavery of all kinds.
(e) ‘َالْغَارِمِينَ’ (al-gharimin):
for helping people who are suffering economic losses, or are burdened with
a fine or a loan.
(f) ‘ِفِي
سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ’ (fi sabilillah):
for serving Islam and for the welfare of the citizens.
(g) ‘اِبْنِ
السَّبِيلِِِ’ (ibnu’l-sabil):
for helping travelers and for the construction of roads, bridges and rest
houses for these travelers.
This is all as far as the Shari‘ah
regarding
Zakah
is concerned. However, since there exist some general misconceptions about
it, the following points must remain in consideration:
Firstly, there is no basis in the
Qur’an
and Sunnah for the condition of ‘تمليك
ذاتى’ (personal-possession)
imposed by our jurists. Therefore, just as Zakah can be given in
the personal possession of an individual, it can also be spent on projects
of his welfare2.
Secondly, if the basis of the directive
is taken in consideration, industrial produce of all forms, production
of all forms based on various skills, rent of various items or buildings
of all forms, salaries (reward for labor) and fees of all forms obtained
in various ventures must be classified as produce and not as wealth; therefore,
the Zakah imposed on them should be based on the rates specified
by the Prophet (sws) for land produce.
Thirdly, according to the above mentioned
principle,
Zakah on leased-out houses, properties and other rented
items should be that which is levied on produce, and if they are not rented
out, its rate should be that which is levied on wealth.
Fourthly, the Nisab of all
items which are analogously linked such as those above can be fixed by
the state, if need be, by analogy with the ones specified.
|