of the faith, the prayers, the fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the
Hajj(pilgrimage). It was also given a descriptive name,zakah, that implies
that paying out alms in fact purifies and cleanses the rest of the assets.
The zakah is the annual obligatory ritual of purifying one’s assets and
income. The purposes of paying the zakah are to foster mutual caring and
support between members of the community—both the rich and the poor;
to purify the self, the soul, and the assets of each household; and to elevate
the spiritual soul of purity and excellence. The Qur’aan reveals:
Those who pay out the zakah will be paid back by God and should
not fear and consider zakah payment as a loss:
2:277 Those believers who heed almighty God and do good
deeds and pay their obligated zakah (alms) will be paid for their
work by God, and there is no fear about their affairs and destiny,
and they will not grieve or be sad.If you pay the zakah by helping to give the poor and needy without
charging riba will multiply their returns on that investment with
God:
30:39 whatever you earned from riba sources to grow in peo-
ples’ assets will never grow in the sight of God, and whatever you
pay in zakah, seeking the acceptance of God, indeed these are the
ones who will multiply their returns and rewards.Zakahrepresents the backbone of the Islamic economic system and law
(Shari’aa). Abu-Bakr, the first Caliph who assumed the responsibility of
running the emerging Muslim State after Prophet Muhammad (pp), waged
acampaigntocapturethosewhorefusedtopayzakahafterthedeathof
Prophet Muhammad (pp) and put them on trial.
Prophet Muhammad (pp) also taught that one’s assets never go down
because of payingzakah. Prophet Muhammad (pp) pronounces (in the
Hadeeth) that whenever the right of God in one’s assets (that is,zakah)is
not paid and stays mixed with one’s assets, it destroys all assets. Thezakah
system and methods of collecting it are designed to gather and preserve assets
in the House of Treasury of the community (Bayt Ul Maal) and to reinvest
such assets in the community. The amount ofzakahrequired to be paid de-
pends on the way the assets of each household are saved and/or invested. The
zakahsystem encourages community members to reinvest their assets and
savings in the community (hence paying lesszakah) and not to accumulate
their savings as liquid (cash) assets (which requires higherzakah).
The rich who are expected to payzakahmay hesitate to pay it, because
they may think that it will reduce their wealth. The Qur’aan teaches that it
The Faith-Based Judeo-Christian-Islamic Foundation 35