Zakat
is one of the five pillars of islam, its aim is to meet the social needs of the
muslim society and to improve the economic position in islam.
The
word zakat means purification, blessing and increasing. It is akind of
protection of the wealth of those who are rich. When a muslim pays his zakat he
is protecting his money from unexpected disaster, for the prophet said,
“Protect your property by giving zakat and help your relatives to recover from
their illness by giving charity.”
Zakat
is an obligatory payment, like a tax, and the English translation is “poor
dues.” It could called a divine tax, for it has been prescribed by god in the
holy Quran and the sayings of the prophet. The Holy Quran says in many places,
“keep up regular prayer and give Zakat,” and one of the sayings of the prophet
Mu’adh was sent to Yemen was, “You will
come to folk whoare people of the book, so invite them to testify that there is
no God gut God and the Muhammad is God’s Massenger. If they obey that, tell
them that God has made it obligatory for them for sadaqa to be taken from the
rich and handed over to the poor. If they obey that, do not take the best part
of they property, and have regard to the claim of him who is wronged, for there
is no veil between it and God.
There
are many kinds of zakat : zakat al fitr which is an obligatory payment by a
Muslim slave for freeman, male for female, young and old, and it should be made
before the ‘Id prayer. It is usually given instead and it is preferable, in a
country like Indonesia, for it to be done by giving money. Nowadays, one must
pay Rp 1.500,00 for each member of the family,including the servant (if there
is a servant) and one’s parents, if one is responsible for them. Ibn Abbas said
that Gods messenger prescribed the zakat relating to the breaking of the fast
as a purification from empty and obscene words and as food for the poor.
Other
kinds of zakat al mal, meaning money zakat, either gold of silver, zakat at
tijara, meaning trade zakat, zakat al an’am meaning cattle, involving camels,
cows, or sheep, zakat al zuru wa al thamar, meaning cereals and fruits. These
last two are of one kind. For zakat to be compulsory there must be two
conditions ; first, that it must reach the nisab and secondly that it must have
been owned by the prayer for one complete year.
Islam
has prescribed zakat for all kinds of property for the benefit of needy people.
It is not always in money but, in some cases, in cattle, cereals and fruits as
in Africa and similar countries. But in more developed countries, trade and
business are the most common ways of paying zakat and money is used for this
purpose. The aim collecting zakat is to serve members of society and to meet
their needs and help them to o evercome the difficulties they are facing. Some
people are in difficulty because they haven’t the ability to work, some because
they meet with disaster of some kind and some because they are old and need
help. Zakat in islam is the source of security from any hardship for all
members of society. Those who have the right to receive money from zakat are
mentioned in the holy Quran.
In case there is nobody who is in need zakat, it
will be collected and the head of the community will spend it for the benefit
of the whole, using it for example, for the building of school, hospital,
mosques, or other similar things.
