Meaning of Zakah

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Brothers in Islam!

After the Prayer, Zakah or the Alms-giving is the most important
pillar of Islam. The Qur’an makes the importance of Zakah abundantly clear, although in
popular imagination the Fasting is ranked after the Prayer, because it is usually so
listed. On these two great pillars rests the edifice of Islam. If they are demolished Islam
can hardly survive.

Meaning of Zakah

.to be continued...Inshaa Allah.

 

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Meaning of Zakah

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Primarily the word Zakah means purity and cleanliness. Islam uses this very word for the act of setting aside a portion of your wealth for the needy and poor. This is very significant. For it means that it is by ‘giving’ to others that your wealth is purified. And,along with it, your own self (nafs) too. If another does not give to the poor and needy what is their due, his wealth remains impure. And that person’s inner self, too, isimpure. His heart is too narrow; it is filled with ingratitude. He is too selfish. He almost worships wealth. While God has been kind and generous to give him wealth in excess of his requirements, it pains him to render what is His due. How can we expect such aperson ever to do some good with the sole motive of pleasing God, or make any sacrifice for the sake of Islam and his faith?

Zakah, a Test

 

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Zakah, a Test

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By enjoining upon us to pay Zakah, Allah has put every one of us to the test. Only if
you willingly take out what you must for the sake of God from that wealth which
exceeds your requirements, and help with it the poor and needy, you are worthy in the
sight of Allah and deserve to be counted among the faithful. If you do not sacrifice even
this little you are totally unfit to be valued by Allah and accepted as a truly faithful
servant. You are then like a rotten limb which is better cut off to stop it decomposing
the whole body. After the death of the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, some
tribes refused to give Zakah; Abu Bakr declared war on them, as if they had disowned
Islam and turned Kafirs, even though they performed the Prayer and professed faith in
Allah and the Messenger. For, they were like a rotten limb. Islam is an integral whole of
which the Almsgiving is an essential part; without the Almsgiving, even Salah, Sawm
and Iman lose their credibility.

Early Practice

 

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Early Practice

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[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Study the Qur’an and you will find that from the earliest times the Prayer and the[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Almsgiving were laid down upon the followers of all the prophets. Speaking about the[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Prophet Ibrahim, his progeny and followers, it is said:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And We made them leaders [of men] who would guide by Our command, and We[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]instructed them to do good deeds, and to perform the Prayer, and to give the Alms, and[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Us alone did they serve (al-Anbiya’ 21: 73).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]About the Prophet Isma’il is said:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He used to enjoin upon his people the performing of the Prayer and the[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Almsgiving and he found favour with his Lord (Maryam 19: 55).[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]The Prophet Musa once prayed thus for his people:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My Lord! Bestow upon us good, in this world, as also in the world to come.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do you know that Allah said in reply?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]With My punishment do I smite whom I will; but My mercy embraces everything,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]and I shall ordain it for those who are God-conscious and give the Alms and who[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]believe in Our messages (al-A‘raf 7156).[/FONT]
​

[FONT=&quot]Since the Prophet Musa’s followers were obsessed with worldly gains then, as so many[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]among us are today, even prophet as distinguished as Musa was plainly told that the[/FONT][FONT=&quot] mercy he had asked for would be granted to only those who observed the Almsgiving;[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]those who did not would be deprived of it, and punished
.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Similarly, even after the Prophet Musa died, the Israelites were repeatedly admonished[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]about their niggardly and stingy behaviour. Time and again covenants were taken from[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]them to worship none save Allah and to be steadfast in Salah and Zakah (al-Baqarah[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2: 85) till ultimately clear warning was given:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And said God: I surely shall be with you! If you perform the Prayer, give the Alms,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]and believe in My Messengers and Support them, and lend to God a good loan,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]surely I will efface your bad deeds (al-Ma’idah 5: 12).[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Before the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, the last prophet was[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]‘Isa. He, too, was ordained by Allah to perform the Prayer and give the Alms:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has blessed me, wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me the Prayer and[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]the Alms so long as I live (Maryam 19: 31).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thus from the earliest times Islam has always been founded on these two acts of[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]worship: the Prayer and the Almsgiving. People who believed in God were never[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]exempted from them.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Categorical Imperative[/FONT]

 

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Categorical Imperative

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What important position do these two acts of worship occupy in the Shari’ah of the
Prophet Muhammed, blessings and peace be on him? Open the Qur’an and see what you read in the very beginning.

Quote:

This is the Book of God, there is no doubt in it. It is a guide for the God-conscious who believe in the Unseen and perform the Prayer and spend of that We have provided them… It is they who follow the guidance from their Lord, and it is they who are successful (al-Baqarah 2:L 2---3). ​

That is to say, those who have no faith and do not adhere to the Prayer and the
Almsgiving will neither receive guidance nor achieve success in life. A little later, in the same Surah, we again read:

Quote:

Perform the Prayer, and give the Alms, and bow with those who bow (al-Baqarah 2:43).

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Look at some of the many more similar Ayahs which stress performing the Prayer and the Almsgiving.

Quote:

It is not true piety that you turn your faces to the East and the West. But truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angles, and the Book, and the prophets; and gives his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsmen, and to orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and to set human beings free from bondage; and performs the Prayer and gives the Alms. And they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and time of peril. It is they who have proved themselves true, and they are the God-conscious

(al-Baqarah2: 177).
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Further we Read:
Indeed, your true friend is only God, and His Messenger, and the believers who performthe Prayer and give the Alms and bow them down. For, whoso makes God his Friend,and His Messenger, and the believers, it is they, the party of God, who shall triumph!

(al-Ma’idah 5: 55---6).


The Sign of Faith
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The Sign of Faith

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Great are the truths expounded here.

First, that only those can be taken as true believers who perform the Prayers and give the Alms. Those who disregard these two fundamental teachings are not true in their profession of faith. Second, that Allah, the
Messenger and the believers form one separate entity---they are like one party---and it is the duty of a true believer to join this party, superseding and severing all other ties of loyalty.

If a Muslim is loyal to a person, or his ally, who is outside this party, whether father, brother, son, neighbour, countryman or anyone else, and maintains with him a relationship of love and mutual support, he should not expect Allah to love and help him. Finally, that believers can gain ascendancy on earth only when they become one---in their love and loyalty, friendship and fidelity---with Allah, His Messenger and other believers.

Foundation of the Ummah

 

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Foundation of the Ummah

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Let us read the Qur’an further where Allah commands Muslims to wage war against
those who rebel against God and take gods beside Him:Yet if they turn [to God] from disbelief and polytheism, and perform the Prayer and give the Alms, they become your brothers in faith (al-Tawbah 9:11).

What should make Muslims accept those rebels against God as their brothers in faith, as members of the Ummah? Merely turning aside from rebellion and polytheism is not enough. They should also perform the Prayer, as well as give the Alms, as a sign of true repentance and conversion. Only then war against them is to be ceased and they become brothers in faith.

A little further, again we read:

And the believers, the men and the women, are friends one of the other: they enjoin
the doing of right and forbid the doing of wrong, and they perform the Prayer, and they give the Alms and they obey God and His Messenger. It is they upon whom God will have mercy (al-Tawbah 9: 71).

Listen carefully: only those can become Muslims, brothers united with one another,who declare their faith, and then perform the Prayer and give the Alms. These three elements---Iman, Salah and Zakah---constitute the basis to bring the community of believers into existence. Only in such a community should loyalty, friendship and mutual support supersede all other loyalties and ties. Those who refuse to accept orwho put aside these three principles in fact fall outside this community, though they may be Muslim in name. To give them love and loyalty is to violate the law of Allah and disrupt the party of Allah. How then can those who accept such behaviour expect to be in the ascendancy?

Conditions for God’s Help

 

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Conditions for God’s Help



Still further we read;

And God will most certainly help him who helps Him. Surely God is All-strong, Allmighty.
Those who, if we give them power in the land, perform the Prayer and give the Alms and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong. Unto God belongs the outcome of all
affairs (al-Hajj 22: 40---1).


Here, Muslims have been served with the same notice as was served on the Israelites.
They were told:
‘I shall be with you so long as you perform the Prayer, give the Alms and support My Messengers in their mission. The moment you give up this work I shall withdraw My support from you’. Similarly, to the Muslims Allah says: ‘If after gaining power on earth you perform the Prayer, give the Alms, make the good to grow and eliminate the evil, only then I will be your helper---and who can subdue him whom Isupport. But if you turn away from the Almsgiving and, after acquiring power on earth, promote evil instead of good, curb good instead of evil, make your own word prevail instead of Mine, and consider collecting taxes and building palatial houses as the sole purpose of your rule on earth, then, listen: My support will not be with you; Satan alone will be your supporter’.

Warning to Muslims

 

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Warning to Muslims

Shall we not heed this warning?

The Israelites took their warning as an empty threat, and they paid the consequences.
They are still scattered across the earth and, although their coffers are brimming with
wealth, their money is of no use to them. By adopting the evil system of interest
instead of Zakah, and by turning away from Salah, they have invoked Allah’s curse.

We Muslims have been given the very warnings by God as He had given to the
Israelites. And what has our conduct been?

We, too, have neglected Salah and Zakah.We forsook our duty to use our power in spreading good and eliminating evil. And the consequences have been no different.

We have been dislodged from power.
We have become the victims of tyrants throughout the world.
We are weak and live in servitude wherever we are found.

Yet despite such clear warnings, and such manifest consequences, some Muslims propose the creation of economies based on interest and other man-made ideologies like capitalism and socialism.

If ever they did implement their proposals, the disgrace and ignominy would overtake Muslims and they would suffer as the Israelites have suffered.

Fate of Zakah Defaulters

 

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Fate of Zakah Defaulters

What immense blessings does Zakah have? That, brothers, I shall explain later, but let me emphasize how the very fact of our being Muslims depends on paying Zakah. Many Muslims think, and some of their Ulema, too, assure them, that they remain true Muslims even though they may not perform the Prayer and give the Alms. But the Qur’an clearly rejects such an idea. It states beyond doubt that the affirmation of the Kalimah Tayyibah has no weight unless accompanied by the performance of the Prayer and the giving of the Alms. Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, as I have stated above, had no hesitation in taking up arms against Muslims who believed in God and the Messenger and performed Salah, but refused to give Zakah. Some of the Prhophet’s companions, initially, had some confusion whether war could be waged against them, but not Abu Bakr, who categorically stated:
By God! If these people withhold the Alms they used to give during the time of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be on him, even if it be a piece of rope by which a camel is tied, I shall raise my sword against them (Abu Da’ud).
His arguments convinced all the Companions and they unitedly accepted that Jihad must be waged against those who refuse to give the Alms. In the Qur’an, too, it is stated that refusal to give the Alms is the mark of idolators who deny the Hereafter.

And woe unto the idolators who give not the Alms and who deny the life to come
(Fussilat 41: 6---7).
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