The Reality of Zakat (Religious Alms)
Imran Butt from North Carolina, USA asks:
I still haven't found an answer to this question and I really like the way you explain.
May God grant you rewards for your efforts, amen.
My question is: what is the right time for Zakat?
If there is a special time for offering Zakat and someone is not able to do it at the allotted time, what is the procedure for them?
May God grant you health and prosperity, and the ability to continue spreading the truth about the religion, amen.
Zakat is a system in the religion through which the treasury of the Islamic Sultanate would be strengthened.
The Bayt al-Maal (House of Wealth) is where the poor and needy people would be helped.
Zakat would be collected in the treasury and it would be used to fund the government's work.
Zakat is just like taxes in western countries.
You have to pay tax on what you earn, right?
Similarly, in the Islamic system, you pay Zakat.
Now because the religion - you have to pay attention to this point here if you truly want to understand these matters.
There is 'mazhab' (religion) which takes you towards the worship and customs.
It does not have a say over every aspect of your life.
And then there is 'deen' which means lifestyle.
Islam is not a mazhab (religion), Islam is a deen (lifestyle).
So Islam is a complete lifestyle.
Islam means you live your life according to the principles set forth by Prophet Mohammad.
The principles set forth by Prophet Mohammad for you, the comprehensive principles -
- the principles of establishing a connection with God and Prophet Mohammad,
the principles of worship, the principles of living your life
and how you must behave with your fellow human beings,
how to do business and how to maintain friendships and relationships,
the matters of marriage and divorce,
the rights of children and how to raise them.
A Deen teaches a set of principles which includes all aspects of one's life.
So the standard of Zakat in the entire Islamic system is the same as taxes in the western countries.
When you pay tax, where does it go?
When we pay taxes to the government, what do they do with it?
They run the police departments and hospitals with it.
And the money needed to run the government also comes from the taxpayers' money.
Our Queen here also has a salary.
The Queen's salary also comes from the tax.
Do you understand?
Now, since you are a Muslim, because of Islam you have an entire system.
Islam has given you the spiritual system, the financial system and the societal system.
So you have the societal principles, spiritual principles and you also have the financial principles.
Your deen includes all of these things but you are not in the Islamic Sultanate, you live in England.
Do you get it?
So one type of Zakat was in accordance with your deen which you must pay while living in your Islamic country.
It will be counted as the government tax and Zakat both.
But now you have come to live in a non-Muslim country.
Where do you live now? In an non-Muslim country.
So you came to the non-Muslim country and you did not understand the Islamic law and so
you will not only pay the tax according to the Islamic law: Zakat
but you will also pay the government tax of the country you are living in.
It begs the question that when you are not living in a Muslim country
and it is not running under the Islamic principles -
For example, Pakistan.
Somebody should ask the Pakistanis that if their country is an Islamic Republic
then they should pay the Zakat; why does the government take tax on top of that?
They should only take the Zakat. Isn't that right?
They should only take Zakat not tax, too.
But the religious scholars there don't know about this.
They don't even know that Islam is a complete way of life.
Islam is a complete package.
The financial aspect included in this package is to make the Islamic Sultanate stronger.
People still believe that tax is paid to help the poor and needy.
No.
If Zakat was paid for the poor and needy then why would Jizya be levied on the non-Muslims?
So we come to know that everyone must pay tax.
If Muslims pay, it's called Zakat and if non-Muslims pay, it is called Jizya but they are both tax.
So now you either went to live in England, Canada, America or Australia and you are a Muslim.
Since you don't even know Islam, you will not only pay Zakat but also the government tax for the country; you will end up paying double.
Do you understand?
I believe that if you are a Muslim and you are living in a non-Muslim country and you are paying tax there
then in that case you are not required to pay Zakat as well.
You are already paying tax, aren't you?
Right?
You're already paying tax.
The tax you're paying is actually a lot more than the Zakat you would have to pay.
When it comes to Zakat, people go and give it to the poor and needy.
The thing is, those who are poor and needy are the way they are, if they are dying of hunger, then that is [how they continue to suffer].
But the poor and needy people have adopted unlawful ways to feed themselves.
This is why nobody is actually hungry now.
The poor and needy ones began looting, carrying out target killings, and snatching mobile phones.
They snatch women's purses [on the streets] so they are not dying of hunger anymore.
Now, as a Muslim you have to pay Zakat. That's when a cleric comes forward and tells you to pay Zakat to the mosque.
Then what happens? Half of the Zakat you paid goes into the cleric's pocket and the other half is used to buy firearms.
And the wars between the different denominations starts.
Sunnis kill Wahhabis, Wahhabis kill Shiites. And incidents of killings on the basis of sectarianism begin to come to the forefront.
The system of Zakat is not just your religious obligation.
Rather, it is part of what your deen prescribed for making the treasury of your Islamic Sultanate stronger.
The money from Zakat must not go towards the poor people.
All the money from Zakat should go towards the treasury.
Which treasury? The treasury of an Islamic country.
If you live in an Islamic country in which Sharia is implemented and all decisions are made based on Islam - since Islam is gives principles for everything.
The principles of judiciary, the principles of trading - the principles of all aspects of life are given by Islam.
But where will you pay Zakat if you no longer live under an Islamic government?
Right?
Those who explain what Zakat is, they don't even know what it is themselves and they tell you to give it to the poor.
I am completely in my senses as I tell you this.
Since Islam is a complete lifestyle, it covers all the aspects of your life.
It gives you a spiritual aspect, it gives you a financial aspect, societal aspect and everything. How to build a better society.
How to manage your finances.
All of these things are included in Islam.
Alright? Now, the problem that occurred with [Muslims] is that the spiritual aspect of Islam was destroyed.
You are now living in a non-Muslim country and the society is not Islamic, therefore, those laws do not apply.
You are not in an Islamic Republic, therefore, the financial aspect of Islam was also impractical.
Now Islam has withered down to being confined to religious customs and worship.
Islam no longer encompasses your entire life.
Do you understand?
So this is the reality of Zakat as I understand it.
In Islam, you give Zakat once a year; but [the government] takes taxes every month.
Give people some relief!
Right?
A person works and comes home -
- look how deceptive it is!
When a person goes to work, he is told that he will earn £11-12 per hour.
And he works 40 hours [a week].
He thinks, 'If I earn £11 per hour, then for 40 hours, I earn £440.'
So in his mind, he thinks he is earning £440, but when money is deducted [for taxes], he is left with £350.
So he takes home £350.
And then he pays an additional 20% tax on the groceries and other items he buys.
People's lives have become hand-to-mouth!
Have some mercy upon human beings.
Now if that person has to pay Zakat as well, then he will say:
'What is the point of me working? I'll just lay out a sheet and start begging outside the mosque.'
'I'll become a beggar too.'
Don't make Islam so difficult that it pushes people away from Islam.
In these countries, you are already paying tax on a weekly basis
and then you are paying an additional 20% tax on the things you buy.
Here, the VAT tax used to be 17.5%
but I believe it was in the past 1-2 years that they changed it to 20% tax.
But if you happened to live in Canada, there are even more taxes to pay.
In total, with all things considered, you pay about 31-34% tax if you buy anything there.
If you go there and it see that something you like is $50,
you become happy, thinking that is a good price.
But when the bill comes, it ends up being $84.
Right?
The name of the tax in Canada is GST.
There are many countries [that impose high taxes], like Denmark. In Denmark, people pay 40% tax.
40%!
Here [in the UK] it is 20%.
And on top of that if you have to pay Zakat as well,
then [it is difficult].
And keep another thing in mind: why is Zakat given in the first place?
How do you benefit by giving Zakat? The recipients of the Zakat are of course benefiting.
But how do you benefit by giving Zakat?
The benefit is that your wealth will become pure.
It becomes better for your spiritual life.
Do you understand?
So you gave Zakat in order to purify your wealth.
But if your wealth was unlawfully earned in the first place, then it will never become pure.
Even if you decide to give 97.5% Zakat rather than the conventional 2.5%, unlawfully earned wealth would never be purified.
You who give Zakat - first earn your provisions lawfully!
If you earn unlawfully, then how will you be able to give Zakat from it?
If you are earning your money unlawfully, then how would Zakat be given from it? What is unlawfully earned will remain to be unlawful.
The purpose of Zakat is that if you make an error [in earning lawful provisions] and some small part of your wealth happened to be earned unlawfully,
then by giving Zakat, your wealth would have become purified.
But if all the wealth you have earned is unlawful, then what is the point of giving Zakat?
It will never be purified; what is unlawful will remain to be unlawful.
So before giving Zakat, check to see whether your wealth has been earned lawfully or unlawfully.
If your wealth is unlawful, then you could spend all of it for the sake God and God still would not accept it.
Because pure is that which is permissible.
And the wealth you have collected through bribery, fraud and dishonesty - Zakat would not apply on it.
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