Zakat (Alms-Tax)
The third pillar of the faith is the zakat, ‘alms-tax,’ a mandatory donation to charity. The Koran defines the righteous as those who “attend to their prayers, pay the alms-tax and firmly believe in the life to come. (31:4)” The obligation to share what one has with those less fortunate is stressed throughout the Holy Book. Islam teaches that the riches of this world are transitory and stresses that those who have abundant blessings should share with the less fortunate. The Muslim definition of the virtuous life includes charitable support of widows, wayfarers, orphans, and the poor. The zakat institutionalizes that duty.
The Koran does not specify how much should be given. Nor does the Koran say how the requirement to pay the tax should be enforced, since it assumes that the command of God and the rule of the state are one and therefore the state has no enforcement power other than divine will. In some Muslim countries, the zakat is entirely voluntary. In others, it is enforced by the government, but according to Islamic law, it is not a state tax because it is not to be used to support the public treasury and the government does not set the rate. Some scholars argue that the zakat should not be collected by state, because it has spiritual merit only if voluntary.
Islamic legal tradition, which rooted in the Koran and in the deeds and words of the Prophet, has produced a complex set of technical regulations about how much zakat is due and upon what property it is to be levied. No tax is payable on a herd of less than five camels, for example. Possession of twenty-five to thirty camels requires the donation of a young she-camel; discovery of buried treasure requires the donation of one-fifth of the value. In practice, the most common measure is 2.5 percent of the amount of cash an individual holds in savings or investment for a year. An additional tax of one’s day food for one person is to be paid on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends the annual month of fasting, so that the poor also may eat.
The law also prescribes the purposes for which the state or organization that collects the tax is to use it—to help the poor, give aid to travelers and the homeless, relieve debtors, finance the propagation of Islam, and pay the wages of the collectors. These principles, which originated in early Islam, before the disintegration of the purely Islamic state, do not necessarily prevail in contemporary Muslim nations. Laws and practices vary; what remains constant is the obligation of the good Muslim to do what he can in the name of God to help those less fortunate. The particular duty of paying the alms-tax is part of the general requirement to be charitable and generous and to live in a way that contributes to the general welfare of the community.
The third pillar of the faith is the zakat, ‘alms-tax,’ a mandatory donation to charity. The Koran defines the righteous as those who “attend to their prayers, pay the alms-tax and firmly believe in the life to come. (31:4)” The obligation to share what one has with those less fortunate is stressed throughout the Holy Book. Islam teaches that the riches of this world are transitory and stresses that those who have abundant blessings should share with the less fortunate. The Muslim definition of the virtuous life includes charitable support of widows, wayfarers, orphans, and the poor. The zakat institutionalizes that duty.
The Koran does not specify how much should be given. Nor does the Koran say how the requirement to pay the tax should be enforced, since it assumes that the command of God and the rule of the state are one and therefore the state has no enforcement power other than divine will. In some Muslim countries, the zakat is entirely voluntary. In others, it is enforced by the government, but according to Islamic law, it is not a state tax because it is not to be used to support the public treasury and the government does not set the rate. Some scholars argue that the zakat should not be collected by state, because it has spiritual merit only if voluntary.
Islamic legal tradition, which rooted in the Koran and in the deeds and words of the Prophet, has produced a complex set of technical regulations about how much zakat is due and upon what property it is to be levied. No tax is payable on a herd of less than five camels, for example. Possession of twenty-five to thirty camels requires the donation of a young she-camel; discovery of buried treasure requires the donation of one-fifth of the value. In practice, the most common measure is 2.5 percent of the amount of cash an individual holds in savings or investment for a year. An additional tax of one’s day food for one person is to be paid on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends the annual month of fasting, so that the poor also may eat.
The law also prescribes the purposes for which the state or organization that collects the tax is to use it—to help the poor, give aid to travelers and the homeless, relieve debtors, finance the propagation of Islam, and pay the wages of the collectors. These principles, which originated in early Islam, before the disintegration of the purely Islamic state, do not necessarily prevail in contemporary Muslim nations. Laws and practices vary; what remains constant is the obligation of the good Muslim to do what he can in the name of God to help those less fortunate. The particular duty of paying the alms-tax is part of the general requirement to be charitable and generous and to live in a way that contributes to the general welfare of the community.
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