Misplaced Pages

Part of a series on
Islam
Beliefs Oneness of God Angels Revealed Books Prophets Day of Resurrection Predestination
Practices Profession of Faith Prayer Almsgiving Fasting Pilgrimage
Texts Foundations Quran Sunnah (Hadith, Sirah) Tafsir (exegesis) Aqidah (creed) Qisas al-Anbiya ("Stories of the Prophets") Mathnawi (Poems) Fiqh (jurisprudence) Sharia (law)
History Timeline Jahiliyyah Muhammad Ahl al-Bayt Sahabah Rashidun Caliphate Imamate Spread of Islam Succession to Muhammad
Culture and society Academics Animals Art Association football Calendar Children Circumcision Demographics Diaspora Denominations Sunni Shia Economics Education Ethics Exorcism Feminism Festivals Finance Madrasa Moral teachings Mosque Music Mysticism Philosophy Poetry Politics Proselytizing Science Sexuality LGBTQ Slavery Concubinage Social welfare Women
Related topics Apostasy Criticism Muhammad Quran Hadith Arabic language Other religions Islamism Violence terrorism war Islamophobia Jihad Jihadism Salafi jihadism Deobandi jihadism Military laws Glossary
Islam portal
v t e

Zakāt (Arabic: زكاة zakāt, "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal Arabic: زكاة ألمال, "zakat on wealth") is a form of alms-giving treated as a religious tax and/or religious obligation in Islam for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Beneficiaries of zakat include orphans, widowed, poor muslims, debt-ridden, travelers, zakat collectors, new converts to Islam, Islamic clergy. Zakat is prescribed to cleanse the individual's wealth, heart, and baser characteristics in general, and to replace them with virtues.

Zakat is based on income and the type and value of one's assets/possessions above a minimum amount known as nisab. The Quran does not provide specific guidelines on which types of wealth are taxable under the zakat, nor how much is to be donated, and Islamic scholars differ on how much nisab is and other aspects of zakat. However, the amount of zakat paid on capital assets (e.g. money) and stock-in-trade and jewelry is customarily 2.5% (1/40). Zakat is also payable on agricultural goods, precious metals, minerals, and livestock at a rate varying between 2.5 and 20 percent, depending on the type of goods. Income from business, salaries and other means are traditionally exempt.

Doctrine

While the Quran talks about the importance of zakat (Quran 7:156) and gives general guidance on who should receive it (Quran 2:215), it does not specify which types of wealth are "zakatable", nor how much is to be given in zakat.

While some kinds of wealth are mentioned in the hadith in regards to zakat (for example wheat, rye, date, raisin, camels, silver), many others are not. Consequently, the eminent scholar of fiqh Yusuf al-Qaradawi emphasizes the importance in zakat regulation of the use of ijma' (the agreement of scholars), and qiyas (analogy or applying to a case the same ruling given to a similar case because of common reason (`illah)). An example of use of ijma is the rule that zakah is "obligatory on golden assets at the same rate as it is on silver", (i.e. one fourth of a tenth) despite the fact that only silver had zakat ordered upon it by a hadith by Muhammad. Zakat regulations on silver and gold are also an example of qiyas as both metals are being "used in several countries as measures and store of value", and so are analogous.

According to Mohammad Najatuallah Siddiqui, the ulema (Islamic scholars) are "unanimous in regarding the rates of Zakat as permanently fixed by Islamic law", but "a number" of recent writers, "mostly economists, argue in favour of making these rates amendable to modification".

Gold and silver

Al-Qaradawi quotes Imam Al-Shafi‘i in his Al Risalah about zakah on gold: "The Prophet of God ordered zakah on silver currency and Muslims after him collected zakah on gold. They were either depending on a hadith of the Prophet that never reached our times or applying analogy because of the similarities between gold and silver as money, since both were used in several countries as measures and store of value."

Jewellery and precious metals — such as gold and silver — come under zakat even if they are used merely for decorative purposes. Zakat can be calculated on property, gold, income, diamond, etc. and before paying zakat, It is important to see who are eligible for zakat. The gold considered in determining the Zakat threshold is 24 karats because 21, 18, and other karats are not pure gold; they are mixed with other metals and alloys. If someone has gold of another karat, such as 22, 21, 18, 14, 10, or any other, Zakat is obligatory only on the pure part of it.

Farm produce

According to al-Qardawi, the grains and fruits mentioned in the hadith on zakah are limited to wheat, rye, date and raisins. However, the majority of scholars prescribed zakah on different kinds of grains and fruits by analogy to those grains and fruits mentioned by Muhammad instead of restricting zakah to the items stated in the hadith. ... By the same token, we apply the analogy to silk, milk and other animal products because they are similar to honey, which is mentioned in the Traditions. ... It is reported that 'Umar used an analogy with respect to zakah when he ordered zakah on horses after he realized that they had become high in value, saying, "Should we only take one sheep out of every forty sheep and leave horses with nothing?" 'Umar was followed in that respect by Abu Hanifah13.

The classic fiqh nisab for dates or grain is five wasq (609.84 kg), so that no zakat is due if the amount of dates or grain possessed is less than that. Zakah is payable on the gross yield of land for each crop.

Livestock

"Zakāt" on Livestock or cattle, Al-An'am Arabic: زكاة الأنعام According to Fiqh az-Zakat by al-Qaradawi and other traditional handbooks of zakat fiqh (such as one issued by IslamKotob,) zakat on livestock such as sheep, cows and camels should be paid in-kind according to a detailed schedule.

Scripture and livestock

Livestock (Al-An'am) and how God created them are mentioned in the Quran in Surat Al-An'am (136), and Surat An-Nahl (5). Flocks and feeding the poor are mentioned in Surat Al-Hajj (28).

How sinners will be punished in Hell for not having paid due zakat on livestock is mentioned in the hadith: Narrated Abu Dhar: Once I went to him (the Prophet) and he said, "By Allah in Whose Hands my life is (or probably said, 'By Allah, except Whom none has the right to be worshipped), whoever has camels or cows or sheep and does not pay their zakat, those animals will be brought on the Day of Resurrection far bigger and fatter than before and they will tread him under their hooves, and will butt him with their horns, and (those animals will come in circle): When the last does its turn, the first will start again, and this punishment will go on till Allah has finished the judgments amongst the people." (Bukhari, Vol.2, Book 24, No. 539)

Camels

The following table shows the ranges of camel numbers and the corresponding due zakah.

Cows, and buffaloes (Domestic and not wild)

According to al-Qaradawi there are no hadiths / ahadith that prescribe the nisab for cows:

There are no sahih (authentic / sound) hadiths that provide us with the nisab and rates of zakah on cows as we have seen in the case of camels. This may be because cows were rare in the area of Hijaz (around Makkah and Madinah); it may be also because cows are close in size and value to camels, so the Prophet did not determine their rates on the assumption of their obvious similarity. But the fact that there is no sahih hadith on the issue has left the jurists with varying views on the determination of nisab and rates.

However, the "reputed position upheld by the four schools of jurisprudence" is that the nisab is 30 cows, and so, the due zakah on 30-39 cows is a one-year old cow, and on 40-59 cows is a two-year-old cow, and so on (see below).

Sheep and goats

There is no zakat on sheep and goats until their number reaches forty. .

Contemporary practice

As of 2010, Zakat was mandatory by state law and collected by the state in six Muslim majority countries: Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen, according to researcher Russell Powell.

There were government-run but voluntary Zakat contribution programs in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.

The states where zakat is compulsory differ in their definition of what assets (and sometimes income) are "zakatable"—eligible for contributing zakat. A 1995 study by Fouad Abdullah al-Omar found many differences.

• Agricultural produce. All six countries charge zakat on agricultural produce, but in Malaysia only rice is subject to zakat.
• Livestock. Five countries (Libya, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen) subject Livestock to zakat. Only one country (Libya) includes camels and cows used for agricultural work (ploughing, irrigation, etc.).
• Precious metals. Zakat on Gold, silver, cash and other forms of invisible wealth is collected in four countries, but the assets are assessed differently in the different countries.
• Treasures buried in the earth. Three countries (Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan) collect zakat for treasures buried in the earth.
• Wealth that yields income. Only one country, Sudan, imposes zakat `on wealth that yields income, such as rented property, factories, farms, etc.` and in two countries (Sudan and Saudi Arabia) `regulations provide for the collection of zakah in respect of factories, hotels, art producing companies, taxi owners and offices of real estate agents`.
• Income. Income is subject to zakat in only two of the six countries: `The Saudi and Malaysian regulations are ... the same as to the imposition of the zakah in respect of free vocational jobs and employees` salaries` Kahf (1999:27-8) explicates that the income of certain professionals (physicians, engineers, lawyers, etc.) is subject to zakat in Saudi Arabia only if they work independently but not if they are salaried person, while professional incomes are generally not included in zakat in Yemen but always—whether independent or salaried—in Sudan."

See also

• Zakat
• Zakat al-Fitr
• Nisab

References

Notes

1. In addition to property exceeding the amount of Nisab, conditions required for Zakah to become obligatory include: the owner of the property being mature and sane; being able to dispense with the property. In the case of cows, sheep, camels, the livestock must have been in possession of the owner for at least twelve months. However, if having met the conditions for zakat at the beginning of the twelfth month, some of the conditions disappear later on in the month, the obligation of Zakah remains.)

Citations

1. Benda-Beckmann, Franz von (2007). Social security between past and future: Ambonese networks of care and support. LIT Verlag, Münster. p. 167. ISBN 978-3-8258-0718-4. Zakat literally means that which purifies. It is a form of sacrifice which purifies worldly goods from their worldly and sometimes impure means of acquisition, and which, according to God's wish, must be channeled towards the community.
2. "Zakat Al-Maal (Tithing)". Life USA. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
3. Salehi, M (2014). "A Study On The Influences Of Islamic Values On Iranian Accounting Practice And Development". Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance. 10 (2): 154–182. doi:10.12816/0025175. Zakat is a religious tax that every Muslim has to pay.
4. Lessy, Z (2009). "Zakat (alms-giving) management in Indonesia: Whose job should it be?". La Riba Journal Ekonomi Islam. 3 (1). zakat is alms-giving and religiously obligatory tax.
5. Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ṭūsī (2010), Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions, ISBN 978-1904063292, pp. 131–135
6. Hefner R.W. (2006). "Islamic economics and global capitalism". Society. 44 (1): 16–22. doi:10.1007/bf02690463. S2CID 153432583. Zakat is a tax levied on income and wealth for the purpose of their purification.
7. ^ al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.xix
8. ^ Medani Ahmed and Sebastian Gianci, Zakat, Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, p. 479-481
9. Ghobadzadeh, Naser (2014), Religious Secularity: A Theological Challenge to the Islamic State, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199391172, pp. 193–195
10. Ariff, Mohamed (1991). The Islamic voluntary sector in Southeast Asia: Islam and the economic development of Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 38. ISBN 981-3016-07-8.
11. Salih, Mohamed (2004). De Waal, Alexander (ed.). Islamism and its enemies in the Horn of Africa. Indiana University Press. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-0-253-34403-8.
12. The Zakat Handbook (PDF). Zakat Foundation of America. 2007. pp. 13–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
13. Décobert, C. (1991), Le mendiant et le combattant, L’institution de l’islam, Paris: Editions du Seuil, pp. 238–240
14. Medani Ahmed and Sebastian Gianci, Zakat, Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, p. 479, quote: "As one of the Islam's five pillars, zakat becomes an obligation due when, over a lunar year, one controls a combination of income and wealth equal to or above Nisaab."
15. "أحكام الزكاة". Islamdoor.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
16. ^ al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.xxi-xxii
17. Kuran, Timur (1996). "The Economic Impact of Islamic Fundamentalism". In Marty, Martin E.; Appleby, R. Scott (eds.). Fundamentalisms and the state: remaking polities, economies, and militance. University of Chicago Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-226-50884-9.
18. Kuran, Timur (2010). Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism. Princeton University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4008-3735-9.
19. ^ Khan, What Is Wrong with Islamic Economics?, 2013: p.417
20. ^ "Zakah; the Obligatory Charity". submission.org. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
21. al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.xxxi-xxxiii
22. al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.xxx
23. ^ al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.xxxii
24. Siddiqi, Muhammad Nejatullah (1981). Muslim Economic Thinking: A Survey of Contemporary Literature. International Centre for Research in Islamic Economics, King Abdul Aziz University. p. 23. ISBN 9780860370819.
25. Imam al Shafi'i, al Risalah, pages 193-4
26. "zakat". Muslim aid. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
27. "Eligibe for Zakat". transparenthands.org. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
28. "Calculate Money Zakat". Quick Calculators. September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
29. "Fiqh of Zakat". zakatpages.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
30. "معنى كلمة الانعام في قاموس المعاني. قاموس عربي انجليزي مصطلحات صفحة 1". Almaany.com. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
31. ^ al-Qaradawi, Fiqh az-Zakat, 1969: p.86
32. Nofal, Abd el-Razzak. The Poor Due (Al Zakat) - الزكاة. IslamKotob, under the auspices of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Cairo. p. 16. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
33. Quran 6:136
34. Quran 16:5
35. Quran 22:28
36. Sahih Bukhari translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan]| Peace Vision| Vol.2, Book 24, No. 539
37. Abu Qanit al-Sharif al-Hasani (2001–2002). The Guiding Helper: Main Text and Explanatory Notes. lulu. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4452-3791-6. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
38. ^ Al-Qardawi, Figh Al Zakah, v.I, 1969: p.92
39. "12.19. Livestock, Animals, Cows, Sheep, Camels". Hidaya Foundation. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
40. Marty, Martin E. & Appleby, R. Scott (1996). Fundamentalisms and the state: remaking polities, economies, and militance. University of Chicago Press. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-226-50884-9.
41. "Zakat by country". Money Jihad. August 9, 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
42. Powell, Russell (2009). "Zakat: Drawing Insights for Legal Theory and Economic Policy from Islamic Jurisprudence". University of Pittsburgh Tax Review. 7 (43). SSRN 1351024.
43. ^ Behdad, Sohrab; Nomani, Farhad, eds. (2006). Islam and the moral economy: the challenge of capitalism. Routledge. p. 268. ISBN 9781134206742.
44. ^ Al-Omar, Fouad Abdullah (1995), "General, Administrative and Organizational Aspects", el-Ashker and Sirajul Haq (eds.), Institutional Framework of Zakah, Jeddah, IDB/IRTI, pp. 21-59.
45. ^ Al-Omar, Fouad Abdullah (1995), "General, Administrative and Organizational Aspects", el-Ashker and Sirajul Haq (eds.), Institutional Framework of Zakah, Jeddah, IDB/IRTI, p. 39.
46. Kahf, Monzer (April 26–30, 1999). "The Performance of the Institution of Zakah in Theory and Practice" (PDF). International Conference on Islamic Economics, Towards the 21st Century: 27–8. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

Books and journals

• Khan, Muhammad Akram (2013). What Is Wrong with Islamic Economics?: Analysing the Present State and Future Agenda. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781782544159. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
• al-Qaradawi, Yusuf (1969). Fiqh az-Zakat, Volume 1 (PDF). Monzer Kahf (translator). Saudi Arabia, London: King Abdulaziz University, Dar al Taqwa. ISBN 978-967-5062-766. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
• Quran. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016. with three translations by YUSUFALI, PICKTHAL, and SHAKIR for each verse {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
• Kahf, Monzer (April 26–30, 1999). "The Performance of the Institution of Zakah in Theory and Practice" (PDF). International Conference on Islamic Economics, Towards the 21st Century. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

External links

• Zakat Calculator
• The Fiqh of Zakat
• Zakat FAQ
• Mon ey Zakat Calculator

• Zakat