Allah Almighty says: {And establish prayer and give Zakah} [Surat al-Baqarah: 43] He also says: {And they were only commanded to worship Allah with sincere devotion to Him in all uprightness, establish prayer, and give Zakah. That is the upright religion.} [Surat al-Bayyinah: 5] Allah Almighty also says: {Take [O Muhammad] from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase.} [Surat at-Tawbah: 103]
1) Giving Zakah is an act of worship to Allah and kindness to people. It is the third pillar of Islam.
2) Zakah brings relief, increases sustenance, and purifies the heart.
3) Giving Zakah is a sign of true faith and fulfillment of the right of servitude to Allah Almighty.
4) Zakah softens the heart towards the poor and rids a person of miserliness and makes him love giving.
1206/1 - Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Islam was built on five pillars: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, establishing prayer, giving Zakah, performing Hajj to the (Sacred) House, and fasting Ramadan.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) Giving Zakah is one of the five pillars of Islam. Without it, Islam would be incomplete and unsound.
2) Zakah is coupled with prayer in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, for prayer is a right of Allah and constitutes the link between a servant and his Lord; whereas Zakah is a link to people.
1207/2 - Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydillāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man from the people of Najd, with disheveled hair, came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). We could hear his loud voice but could not understand what he was saying, until he came close to the Messenger, when it then became clear that he was asking about Islam. The Messenger of Allah said: “There are five prayers during the day and the night.” He said: “Do I have to perform any other prayer besides these?” The Prophet said: “No, unless you do so voluntarily.” The Prophet added: “And the fasting of Ramadan.” The man asked: “Do I have to fast any other days beyond this?” The Prophet said: “No, unless you do so voluntarily.” Then, the Prophet told him about the Zakah, and the man asked: “Do I have to pay anything else beside this?” The Prophet said: “No, unless you do so voluntarily.” Then, the man turned away while saying: “By Allah, I will neither do more nor less than this.” Upon hearing this, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) remarked: “He will be successful if he proves to be truthful.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
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1) Performing the obligations is the right due upon everyone; whereas voluntary deeds can be offered to complement what is obligatory.
2) Zakah contains both obligatory and voluntary charity.
3) We are exhorted to learn the Shariah rulings from the scholars and ask them about the matters of religion that we do not understand clearly.
1208 - Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched Mu‘ādh (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen and said to him: “Call them to the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they obey you in that, tell them that Allah Almighty ordained on them five prayers every day and night. If they obey you in that, tell them that Allah ordained on them Zakah to be taken from the rich among them and given back to the poor among them.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) Zakah is a religious right upon the rich which they should give to the poor, such that those deserving of Zakah receive and possess this right.
2) Those most entitled to Zakah are the local poor people. The money of Zakah should not be taken to another country unless this serves a predominant interest.
3) When we invite people to the religion of Allah, we should take priorities into consideration. Tawhīd (Monotheism) comes first, then the prayer, and then the other pillars of Islam.
1209/4 - Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish prayer, and give Zakah; if they do so, they protect their blood and property from me, unless legally justified; and their reckoning lies with Allah.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) Zakah is the right of Islam in a person’s wealth. It is not a favor or gift donated by the rich.
2) If a person refuses to give the due Zakah, the ruler should fight him over that.
1210/5 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, and Abu Bakr became his successor, some Arabs apostatized, ‘Umar said to Abu Bakr: “How can you fight people when the Messenger of Allah said: ‘I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah; if they say it, they have protected their property and life, unless legally justified; and their reckoning lies with Allah’?” Thereupon, Abu Bakr said: “By Allah, I will definitely fight those who make distinction between prayer and Zakah, because Zakah is the right due in wealth. By Allah, I will fight them even to secure a piece of rope which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah.” ‘Umar said: “By Allah, I realized that Allah opened the heart of Abu Bakr for fighting, and I fully recognized that this was the right thing to do.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
Rope: The rope mentioned here is the cord used to tie a camel.
1) It shows the merit of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), who took this great stance in defense of the due right of Zakah.
2) Fighting those who refused to pay Zakah was done by consensus among the Companions, as they were all present and gave their support.
1211/6 - Abu Ayyūb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man said to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him): “Tell me of a deed that would make me enter Paradise.” He replied: “You worship Allah and do not associate any partner with Him, establish prayer, pay Zakah, and uphold kinship ties.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1212/7 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A Bedouin came to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed which if I do, I will enter Paradise.” He said: “That you worship Allah and do not associate any partner with Him, establish prayer, pay the due Zakah, and fast in Ramadan.” He (the Bedouin) said: “By the One in Whose hand my soul is, I will not do anything beyond that.” As he left, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever is pleased to look at a man from the dwellers of Paradise, he can look at this man.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) Paying the due Zakah is one of the deeds leading to Paradise.
2) The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were diligent in asking about such deeds that earn the pleasure of Allah Almighty and lead to Paradise.
3) They note that righteous deeds are a reason for entering Paradise, and that we may not rely on intentions only and refrain from work.
1213/8 - Jarīr ibn ‘Abdillāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet that I would establish prayer, pay Zakah, and be sincere to every Muslim.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) It highlights a merit of the Companion Jarīr (may Allah be pleased with him) which is his trueness to the pledge he had given to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to do these three things.
2) Paying Zakah is inseparable from establishing prayer, for Zakah is a bond with those entitled to it and the prayer is a bond with the Almighty Lord.
1214/9 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Any person who possesses gold or silver and does not pay what is due on it (i.e. Zakah), on the Day of Resurrection they will be made for him into sheets of fire and would be heated in the fire of Hell and with them his flank, forehead, and back will be branded. When they cool down, they will be heated again and the same process will be repeated during a day the measure whereof will be fifty thousand years. (This will go on) until Judgment is pronounced among the creation, and he will be shown his final path, either to Paradise or to Hellfire.”
They said: “O Messenger of Allah, what about camels?” He replied: “In the same way the owner of camels who does not discharge what is due with respect to them – and this includes milking them on their watering day – will be thrown on his face or on his back in a vast desert plain on the Day of Resurrection and they will trample upon him with their hoofs and bite him with their teeth. As often as the first of them passes him, the last of them will be made to return during a day the measure whereof will be fifty thousand years. (This will go on) until Judgment is pronounced among the creation, and he will be shown his final path, either to Paradise or to Hellfire.”
It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what abouts cows and sheep?” He replied: “If anyone who possesses cattle and sheep and does not pay what is due with respect to them (i.e. their Zakah), on the Day of Resurrection, he will be thrown on his face in a vast plain desert. He will find none of the animals missing, with twisted horns, without horns, or with a broken horn, and they will gore him with their horns and trample upon him with their hoofs. As often as the first of them passes him, the last of them will be made to return to him during a day the measure whereof will be fifty thousand years. (This will go on) until Judgment is pronounced among the creation, and he will be shown his final path, either to Paradise or to Hellfire.”
It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what about horses?” He replied: “The horses are of three types. One, which is a burden for the owner; another is a shield, and another one makes its owner entitled to reward. The one for whom these are a burden is the person who rears them for show or for pride or in hostility to Muslims. They will be a cause of torment for their owners. The one that are a shield is the person who rears them for the sake of Allah and does not forget the right of Allah concerning their backs and their necks, so they are a shield for him. Those which bring reward to their owner are the ones reared in a meadow or garden to be used in the way of Allah (Jihad) by Muslims. Whatever they eat from that meadow or garden will be recorded on his behalf as good deeds so much so that their droppings and urine will be counted for an equal number of good deeds for him. Even when they break their tying rope and run for a stretch or two of highland, every hoofprint they leave will be counted as a good deed on behalf of the owner. When their owner leads them through a stream from which they drink, though he does not intend to quench their thirst, yet Allah will record for him the quantity (of water) of what they drink on his behalf as good deeds.”
It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what about donkeys?” He replied: “Nothing has been revealed to me regarding donkeys except this distinct comprehensive verse: {So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.} [Surat az-Zalzalah: 7-8] [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim] This is the wording narrated by Muslim.
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1) The punishment mentioned in the Hadīth is a prelude to the punishment in Hellfire with which the withholders of Zakah are threatened.
2) It warns of hoarding wealth without paying the Zakah due on it. Any wealth upon which the due Zakah is not paid is considered a hoarded fortune.
3) Wealth is a blessing from Allah Almighty, if its possessor fulfills the right of his Lord in respect of it; and it is a source of torment for him in the worldly life and the Hereafter if he does not fulfill this right.
4) A person gets a great reward for a simple deed if he does it purely for the sake of Allah. So, let the believer seek the countenance of his Lord in all his deeds, words, and conditions.