( حَقٌّ مَّعْلُومٌ… ) (…a known right): The known right in the wealth of the believers is the Zakat (alms). As regards (Ihsan) which signifies a higher rank than faith, this right is not specified, as Allah (swt) says:
وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ
(And from their properties was [given] the right of the [needy] petitioner and the deprived.) (Adh-Dhariyat: 19)
In this above-mentioned verse, the right is not specified. This is in the interest of the poor that there is no specific portion to be paid out. This is because a believer who has reached the rank of faith may give away according to or more than the specified portion; whereas, for those who reached the rank of (ihsan) there is no limit to what they give.
(… فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ… ) (…within whose wealth …): Allah (swt) attributes wealth to the people. As a matter of fact, Allah (swt) is the Owner of wealth and gives it to anyone He (swt) wills, that is why He (swt) has the right to prescribe a known right. Allah (swt) says:
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ إِنَّ صَلَاتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَّهُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
(Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allah ‘s blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.) (At-Tawba: 103)
The phrase (their wealth) is mentioned thirty-one times in the Quran, whereas the phrase (your wealth) is mentioned fourteen times. This is to mean that Allah (swt) is the real Owner of the wealth and He (swt) can take it away if He wills.
As the wealth belongs to Allah (swt) in reality, He (swt) has the right to prescribe a known right with a due portion.
Some scholars said that this Surah (al-Ma’arij) was revealed in Mecca, whereas Zakat was prescribed in Medinah; thus, what is intended here is a specific portion the believers obligated upon themselves to bring near Allah (swt) before Zakat was obligated in Allah’s (swt) saying:
إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَالْغَارِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
(Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler – an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.) (At-Tawba: 60)
Hence, the zakat was made obligatory in Medina and the receivers were specified as well as its due amount.
When ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked whether it is the zakat which is intended in these verses (24-25), he answered, “You have other obligations than it”. Ibn Abbas, the scholar of the ummah and the interpreter of the Holy Quran, said: “It is a right other than the zakat”. Two types of people deserve this right; the petitioner and the deprived. The petitioner is the one who begs people, whereas the deprived is the poor who abstains from begging people to the extent that people think him to be rich. Allah (swt) recommends giving the petitioner, as in His (swt) saying:
وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ
(And as for the petitioner, do not repel [him].) (Ad-Dhuha: 10)
Some interpreters gave the word (the deprived) other denotations apart from the poor who abstains from begging; for it can refer to those whose wealth do not grow, their business remains slack or perishes or they do not earn what meets their needs. From this point, we notice that Islam did not leave any way to help the poor, the needy, orphans, and widows, whether it was through zakat or other ways of charities which are unlimited. One may ask, “Does this word (their wealth) refer to money, gold or silver only? We say, ‘No, the wealth can be in the form of plants, cattle, or food. In other words, it indicates everything that could be a medium of exchange’.