Notes and suggestions (IV): The Zakat

Zakat is the fallen pillar of Islam.

Although a house can stand on four pillars, it can never reach the height for which it was conceived if its planning has not been carried out to its full extent.
This is the real problem of our time.

As it is a pillar that has long since fallen, and that none of the erroneously called Islamic states has established, there are many erroneous meanings about it.
As soon as we begin to inquire about its meaning, the way it is managed, its obligatory nature, etc., we find the most varied explanations that lead us to confusion and confusion.
We must therefore begin by clarifying:

Zakat is not a tax.

Zakat is not alms.

Zakat is not voluntary.

Zakat is not optional.

Zakat is not for personal administration.

What is it then, zakat is a right.

It is the right that the poor have over the rich, decreed by Allah, of obligatory character, of annual payment and that corresponds to 2.5% of the wealth accumulated and immobilized during the year.
The threshold above which the payment of zakat is obligatory is 20 gold dinars or 200 silver dirhams, or its equivalent in the currency of the country.
And its payment is due on the day of ‘âshûrâ of the month of Muharram (the tenth day of the first lunar month).
The sakat is paid twice a year; once in the terms stated (zakat Al-Mal) and the other at the end of Ramadan (zakat Al-fitra) and which has different characteristics.

We will come back to this and analyze it point by point.
However, first we would like to emphasize something that we consider of utmost importance.
The zakat is the great pending task of our time; in Muslim majority countries this obligation is not fulfilled, it is not established and therefore one of the pillars of Islam is not being fulfilled.
This is not a trivial matter, but something of manifest importance that requires our full attention, otherwise we would be establishing an incomplete Din.

Through Zakât we submit ourselves to Allah from a social point of view, considering our goods not as our own but as Allah’s goods, and that therefore they should revert to the ummah.
Zakât reminds us that nothing we have is really ours.

It is not understandable how in countries like Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world that has a family name, they tear their clothes with minor moral issues such as women’s clothing and look the other way when talking about zakat.
The Saudi family owns all the wealth while the rest of the country swims in abject poverty.
However, all these poor people have a right over the family that governs them; a right that is not included in the charter of the so much brought and taken Human Rights, nor in the so much talked about recommendations of the international organisms, it is a right that goes much further and that Allah Subhana wa ta ala has made descend in the Koran.

Returning to the remarks made previously, it is often misunderstood that zakat is alms given to the poor.
This does not make any sense since an alms is something that one gives when he wants, in the amount he wants and to whom he wants.
This place is occupied in Islam by sadaka, which means just that, alms.

The difference is very important.
Sadaka may have a beneficial effect on the character, but it is a giving that is done from the ego.
An ennobled ego but, at the end of the day, one feels that one is being generous, making one feel good about oneself.
But giving the poor a claim on one’s possessions is very different from giving alms.

It is important to be aware that in giving zakat one is not giving anything of his own, but something of others that has been “diverted to his pocket”.
Zakat is fixed in its amount, 2.5% of a person’s wealth immobilized for the whole year, as long as it exceeds the threshold mentioned above, is to be calculated and this money is to be given.

One does not calculate this money and dedicate it to charity, one does not decide where this money goes.
This amount is collected by a collector appointed by the Emir, who is the responsible, the manager, the leader of the community and is redistributed, as stated in verse 60 of the sura At Taubah, as follows:

“Zakat is for: the poor, the destitute, the Zakat collector, reconciling people’s hearts, freeing slaves, those in debt, spending in the way of Allah, and for travelers.”

When we speak of a person’s wealth, that is, that on which the payment of zakat al-mal is calculated, we speak of gold and silver (or the equivalent in the local currency), livestock and crops.
Excluded from the calculation are dwellings, personal effects, furniture, weapons; jewelry, such as pearls, rubies, emeralds and others that are not traded; as well as books, and tools used to earn a living.

There are a number of conditions that make Zakat obligatory:

1. Be a Muslim.
Kufr do not pay zakat.

2. Be free. Slaves are excluded from paying zakat.

3. Be an adult. It is not imposed on the minor but on his or her assets and the guardian must deduct it from the minor’s income.

4. Sane in spirit. It is not imposed on alienated persons, but it is imposed on their assets, and the guardian must deduct it from their income.

5. Nisab.
All types of wealth must reach a minimum amount for zakat to be applicable, i.e., 20 gold dinars or 200 silver dirhams.

6. Ownership.
Zakat is only due on wealth that is completely owned by the payer and completely at his disposal.

7. One year of possession. Monetary wealth and livestock must be possessed for a full lunar year in order for Zakat to be payable.

And others that make it valid:

Intention: it should be remembered that Zakat is an act of worship and requires a specific intention like all other acts of worship.

Collection: Zakat must be paid to a collector designated by the leader of the Muslim community.

3. Local distribution: Zakat must be distributed among the community in which it is collected unless it is not possible to do so because none of the target categories exist there, then it can be sent elsewhere.

4. Correct time: Zakat must be paid punctually and not before the due time.
It is fixed in a year or in twelve lunar months, except for harvests and fruits, where the day of harvesting or picking is considered as the date of zakat.

5. Correct elements: Zakat must be paid with the correct means according to the type of wealth in question: the correct type and age of animal in the case of livestock; the correct quality in the case of agricultural products; and the correct weight of gold and silver in the case of monetary wealth.

The zakat al fitr has its own distinct characteristics.
Its payment falls on all Muslims, regardless of their economic capacity (once they have ensured the subsistence of their family).
And its payment is usually made in grain, corresponding to 2 kilos and 400 grams per family member.

It is paid once the fast of the month of Ramadan has ended, on the day of the Aid and before the salat al Fitr.

In this regard there is a hadith (sentence, saying of the prophet) compiled by Abu Dawud it is related that Ibn Abbas said:

“The Prophet has imposed the obligation of Zakat al Fitr as purification from errors and faults, and to provide for the poor. Whoever gives it before the Aid prayer is accepted as Zakat, but whoever gives it after, it is only charity, like any other alms.”

And about all this Allah knows best.

Author: Nizzar Vizcaino