(إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ…) (Zakah expenditures are): In these verses, Allah (swt) specifies the beneficiaries of Zakah. However, someone might ask: Is the intended meaning here the optional charity, called Sadaqah or the obligatory one called Zakah? The answer is undoubtedly Zakah since the recipients are listed. Charity (Sadaqah) can be given to anyone and is a recommended act according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws). It is included as acts of kindness and additional acts of goodness. Allah, in this context, says:
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ (15) آخِذِينَ مَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ (16) كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ (17) وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ (18) وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ
(Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and springs (15) Accepting what their Lord has given them. Indeed, they were before that, doers of good (16) They used to sleep but little of the night (17) And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness (18) And from their properties was [given] the right of the [needy] petitioner and the deprived) (Adz-Dzariyat: 15 – 18)
And in another verse Allah (swt) says:
وَالَّذِينَ فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَّعْلُومٌ (24) لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ
(And those within whose wealth is a known right (25) For the petitioner and the deprived) (Al-Ma’arij: 24 – 25)
When it is specified with the phrase (a known right) it refers to Zakat. However, if it is not specified and left general, then it refers to regular charity (Sadaqah). Thus, we understand from the context of the verse of study that it refers to Zakat.
(لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ) (For the poor and the needy): Scholars have various opinions as to who is considered (poor) and who is the (needy). Some argue that the poor is someone who owns nothing and is called so in Arabic because this word translated into (poor) is derived from (spine) of the back, meaning, his back is curved, due to extreme poverty, need, and destitution. On the other hand, the needy is someone who possesses some means of living, but it is not sufficient for him. They cite the example of the ship mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf, which belonged to the needy working in the sea:
أَمَّا السَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتْ لِمَسَاكِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْرِ فَأَرَدتُّ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَاءَهُم مَّلِكٌ يَأْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ غَصْبًا
((As for) the ship, it belonged to the needy who work in the sea, and I intended to damage it, as there was after them a king who seized every [good] ship by force) (Al-Kahf: 79)
Regardless of the differences in defining the poor and the needy, what matters is that the expenditures of Zakat, as outlined in the Quran, are for those in need among the poor and the needy. They are the first to whom Zakat should be paid.
Certainly, orphans and others in need fall under the same category, which is identified by the titles of “the poor” and “the needy“. In the community of faith, there is a sense of solidarity and mutual support, as illustrated by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (saws):
“The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever”[1]
Charity is not just words; they are actions. Though spending money on those in need is a natural inclination of humanity, in Islam however, there is an obligation on every Muslim who possesses the minimum threshold amount (nisab) to give in Zakat. If a person owns the nisab and a lunar year passes while it is in his possession, he is required to pay zakat, as clarified by the Prophet Muhammad (saws) – zakat on wealth is two and a half percent (2.5%). There is also Zakat for crops and other items, and the details are elaborated in the books of Islamic Jurisprudence.
When the Quran addresses the issue of Zakat, it says to the Prophet Muhammad (saws):
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا
(Take, [Oh Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you cleanse and purify them) (Al-Tawbah: 103)
Zakat is should be taken, and it is not considered a favor from those who pay it; it is taken because it is a well-known right for every deprived, poor, and needy person in society. Whoever truly wants to knock on the doors of heaven, let them knock with the hands of the poor. Allah (swt) says:
مَّن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً ۚ وَاللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْسُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
(Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many times over) (Al-Baqara: 245)
And (swt) says:
مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّائَةُ حَبَّةٍ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
(The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing) (Al-Baqara: 261)
If this earth, which is one of a creation of Allah (swt), gives us crop which is multiplied seven hundred times, then how about the Creator, the Almighty and Glorious?
وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا (and for those employed to collect [zakah]): This group of people are given the Zakah so that it would not be considered a favor accorded to the poor (making them indebted), and there is no need for the poor to request from the rich. There has to be someone assigned the responsibility of collecting the Zakah. These collectors are entitled to take a portion of it as their compensation.
وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ (and for bringing hearts together [for Islam]): This disbursement of Zakat was intended to alleviate the hardship of certain individuals or groups during the early days of Islam. Charity and kindness in giving soften hearts and always leave an impact on the non-diseased soul. Therefore, in the early days of Islam, there was a provision in the disbursement of Zakat to be given to groups to reconcile their hearts and repel any harm they had intended. However, when Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), noticed that this provision was no longer necessary in his time, he suspended it. Nonetheless, he did not invalidate the original directive of the Prophet (saws).
وَفِي الرِّقَابِ)) (and for freeing captives [or slaves]): The practice of freeing slaves was present when there were captives as a result of wars. However, Islam gradually addressed and ultimately abolished the institution of slavery, by making the freeing of slaves a penalty for many matters.
This way of paying Zakat is no longer present, yet this does not invalidate the text. However, there may come a time when there is a need to allocate Zakah to soften the hearts of those in need of it or for emancipation. Who knows!! if it might happen again five hundred or a thousand years in the future. The Quran remains unchanged, though the disbursements mentioned in the Quran may not always exist. When they are not present, the text remains as it is, with the expectation that there will be another time when it will be applied.
وَالْغَارِمِينَ (and for those in debt,): There are two types of debtors: the one in debt for personal needs, such as borrowing for living expenses, clothing, housing, or medical treatment, and the one in debt for the benefit of society or due to the interests of others. The latter group includes those who are fined to reconcile disputes.
وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ (and for the cause of Allah,): Zakah is also for those involved in the cause of Allah. Every action that leads to goodness in society is in the path of Allah (swt).
وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ ۖ (and for the [stranded] traveler): Finally, Zakah is also for those who are traveling and has been stranded with no means to get home. So, he is granted from the funds of Zakah enough to enable him to return to his homeland.
[1] Sahih Muslim: The Book of Goodness, Keeping Ties of Kinship and Manners, Chapter: The Mercy, Compassion and Support of the Believers, Hadith no. 2586