Zakat
[7] As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy.
[10][11] The payment and disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam, notably during the Ridda wars.
[17] According to Islamic doctrine, the collected amount should be paid to the poor and the needy, Zakat collectors, orphans, widows, those to be freed from slavery, the aged who cannot work to feed themselves, those in debt, in the cause of God and to benefit the stranded traveller.
[28] Verse 2:177 (the Clear Qur'an translation) sums up the Quranic view of charity and almsgiving (another name for zakat is the poor due): Righteousness is not in turning your faces towards the east or the west.
Rather, the righteous are those who believe in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Books, and the prophets; who give charity out of their cherished wealth to relatives, orphans, the poor, ˹needy˺ travellers, beggars, and for freeing captives; who establish prayer, pay alms-tax, and keep the pledges they make; and who are patient in times of suffering, adversity, and in ˹the heat of˺ battle.
[43][44] Zakat is usually payable on assets continuously owned over one lunar year that are in excess of the nisab, a minimum monetary value.
For example, Abu Hanifa did not regard the nisab limit to be a pre-requisite for zakat, in the case of land crops, fruits and minerals.
[48] However, Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school, disapproved of fighting when the property owners undertake to distribute the zakat to the poor themselves.
[48] Some classical jurists held the view that any Muslim who consciously refuses to pay zakat is an apostate, since the failure to believe that it is a religious duty (fard) is a form of unbelief (kufr), and should be killed.
[48] Some classical and contemporary scholars such as Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh and Yusuf al-Qaradawi have stated that the person who fails to pay Zakat should have the payment taken from them, along with half of his wealth.
[citation needed] According to the Quran's Surah Al-Tawba, there are eight categories of people (asnaf) who qualify to benefit from zakat funds.
[54] Alms-tax is only for the poor and the needy, for those employed to administer it, for those whose hearts are attracted ˹to the faith˺, for ˹freeing˺ slaves, for those in debt, for Allah's cause, and for ˹needy˺ travellers.
[60]: h8.7 Classical schools of Islamic law, including Shafi'i, are unanimous that collectors of zakat are to be paid first, with the balance to be distributed equally amongst the remaining seven categories of recipients, even in cases where one group's need is more demanding.
[42] Representatives of the Salafi movement include propagation of Islam and any struggle in righteous cause among permissible ways of spending, while others argue that zakat funds should be spent on social welfare and economic development projects, or science and technology education.
[68] Schact suggests that the idea of zakat may have entered Islam from Judaism, with roots in the Hebrew and Aramaic word zakut.
[70] The caliph Abu Bakr, believed by Sunni Muslims to be Muhammad's successor, was the first to institute a statutory zakat system.
[68] However certain tribes refused to pay zakat while staying under the name of Islam which was considered apostasy and led ultimately, to the Ridda wars.
[62][79] According to the researcher Russell Powell in 2010, zakat was mandatory by state law in Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen.
There were government-run voluntary zakat contribution programs in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives and the United Arab Emirates.
[87] According to the self-reported poll, British Muslims, on average, gave US$567 to charity in 2013, compared to $412 for Jews, $308 for Protestants, $272 for Catholics and $177 for atheists.
[62][88] This has caused significant conflicts and allegations of zakat abuse within the Islamic community, both historically[62] and in modern times.
[89] Fi Sabillillah is the most prominent asnaf in Southeast Asian Muslim societies, where it broadly construed to include funding missionary work, Quranic schools and anything else that serves the Islamic community (ummah) in general.
[90] In 2012, Islamic financial analysts estimated annual zakat spending between US$200 billion and US$1 trillion per year, which would be at least 15 times more than global humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations.
[84] These numbers are far below what was expected when the governments of these countries tried to Islamize their economies, and the collected amount is too small to have a sizeable macroeconomic effect.
[84] In a 2014 study,[93] Nasim Shirazi states widespread poverty persists in Islamic world despite zakat collections every year.
[101] At least a tenth part of zakat and khums every year, among Shi'ites, after its collection by Imam and his religious deputies under its doctrine of niyaba, goes as income for its hierarchical system of Shia clergy.
[83][102] Among Ismaili sub-sect of Shias, the mandatory taxes which includes zakat, is called dasond, and 20% of the collected amount is set aside as income for the Imams.
[103] Some branches of Shia Islam treat the right to lead as Imam and right to receive 20% of collected zakat and other alms as a hereditary right of its clergy.
[107] According to one source, the Hidaya Foundation, the suggested Zakat al Fitr donation is based on the price of 1 Saa (approx.
