In the last three articles, I have provided the Islamic teachings on the removal of poverty which is also the focus of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) SDG No 1. I have explained as to how, in a short span of time, poverty was completely wiped out from the Arab world and in the non-Arab territories where Muslims ruled during 7th century AD.
The miraculous formula for complete poverty alleviation was a very simple and tiny measure of taking out 1/40th part of the wealth held by a person for a lunar year (or 355 days) as an obligation. This is Zakah.
Let me quote a gem from Chapter 51 verse 19 of the Holy Quran: “And in their wealth the beggar and the outcast had due share.” Therefore, one should not consider that he or she is being generous by taking out 2.5% of his or her wealth once a year. In fact, it was never their wealth but the share of such people kept by Allah in their wealth.
For the sake of further clarity whether Zakah is obligatory or voluntary, I quote below the well-known verse from Sura Thawba (repentance):
“Indeed, [prescribed] charitable offerings are only [to be given] to the poor and the needy, and to those who work on [administering] it, and to those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to [free] those in bondage, and to the debt-ridden, and for the cause of Allah, and to the wayfarer. [This is] an obligation from Allah. And Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.” (Al-Tawbah, 9:60)
Certainly points to ponder.
There is no universal fixed date for paying Zakah similar to performing Hajj or celebrating the two Eids. Every Muslim has his or her own Zakah paying anniversary based on when the wealth threshold (explained in the last article) was crossed. For people who did not keep track of the date, they can start at any time and that will become the anniversary date for future Zakah payment.
The principle of paying Zakah is that it should start from the nearest relative, as we say charity begins at home. A Muslim is responsible to take care of his or her own family first, followed by other people who live close by and then it goes on for people who live further away or in other countries.
By family, it does not mean a person’s wife and children since it is his primary responsibility to take care of them. Husband cannot give Zakah to his wife, which shall tantamount to deceiving Allah and depriving the deserved ones from getting Zakah money.
However, interestingly, a rich wife can still give Zakah to her poor husband and the wisdom behind it is that it is the husband’s responsibility to provide for the family and if he is unable to do so, the wealthy wife can chip in by diverting a portion of her Zakah to the husband. Nevertheless, such kindness by the wife shall cease to exist once the husband is able to earn enough to sustain the family.
Before moving on, I would like to provide further explanation of eight categories of people eligible to received Zakah. Some scholars view that the order stated in the Holy Quran must be adhered to since it is a methodical approach. Let us check the first two, ie the poor and the needy and what the difference between them is.
As for poor, the Arabic word ‘Fuqara’ has been used in the Quran. This represents people who are disadvantaged because of some permanent physical disability or defect or prolonged illness or weakness due to old age. Scholars also include in this category the ones who are healthy but are temporarily out of work and need some stopgap arrangement to be able to become self-supporting again.
Now coming to needy, or ‘Masakeen’ in Arabic, these are people who are in greater distress than the poor people generally are. This is because the poor are obvious from their state and they also openly ask for help but the needy (Masakeen) are those whose appearance does not show that they need help, nor do they ask for help. These are white-collar self-respecting people who have become needy but cannot bring themselves to asking since they have never done it in the past.
As per Islamic teachings, it is the responsibility of a Zakah-paying person to look around for such needy people and reach out to them, and offer the financial assistance in such a manner that if the Zakah payer gives from his right hand, the left hand should not come to know. This is because Islam gives high importance to a person’s self-respect which must not be compromised with.
If Muslims take out Zakah correctly and start from the first category, ie the poor and needy, I believe a big portion of poverty shall be taken care of in the jurisdiction the principle is applied.
Now that we know from the Quran that Allah has kept a portion for Zakah-eligible persons in the wealth of Zakah-paying people, and that it was never their wealth but actually belonged to the poor and needy, don’t you think this one divine commandment should be convincing enough for the UNDP to align SDG No 1 with the Islamic teachings on the removal of poverty for Islamic countries?
The purpose of this educative series and the article is not to hurt any religious or commercial sentiments either consciously or even unwittingly.
Sohail Zubairi is an Islamic finance specialist, AAOIFI-certified Shariah advisor and auditor as well as CIAE-certified Islamic arbitrator and expert. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Next week: SDGs to be continued.