What Is Zakat?

Take from their wealth so that you might purify and sanctify them.’ (The Holy Qur’an, chapter 9, verse 103 The word zakat means ‘purity’ or ‘to purify’ and it represents charity; all Muslims who are wealthy enough, must perform this charity in order to purify their wealth in the eyes of Allah (swt). In other […]

Importance of paying zakat.

ISLAM regards all wealth as belonging to God and thus an “amanah” (a trust that is entrusted to the individual) from Allah. We will have to account for the wealth that Allah has entrusted to us in the hereafter. One may accumulate as much wealth as one pleases, as long as such means do not […]

Zakat – Obligatory Charity: Purifying Wealth.

In the glossary of The Noble Quran[1]  the term Zakat is defined as follows, “A certain fixed proportion of the wealth and of every property liable to Zakat of a Muslim to be paid yearly for the benefit of the poor in the Muslim community.  The payment of Zakat is obligatory as it is one of […]

Zakah (Alms Tax for Poor).

The third pillar of Islam is the alms-tax (Zakah). The word in Arabic implies “purification” and it is understood to mean that a person “purifies” his holdings of wealth from greed and stinginess. It is a tax on wealth, payable on various categories of property, notably savings and investments, produce, inventory of goods, salable crops […]

Encouragement to give ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah)

Question: I would like some information explaining what is meant by ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah) and encouragement to do it. Answer: Praise be to Allaah. Allaah has created man to worship Him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  “And I (Allaah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)” [al-Dhaariyaat […]

Ahaadeeth about the virtue of sadaqah (charity)

Question: We have a weekly lesson here and every week we try to encourage the sisters to make sodaqa for some of the very poor muslims living in other countries .If you could provide ahadith and sayings of the scholars about the rewards on the day of judgement and in paradise for those who give […]

Different kinds of Charity

The difference between ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah) and other kinds of charity Question: Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allaah and his blessings. May Allaah reward you with good on behalf of Islam and the Muslims. Is there any difference between charity and ongoing charity? If there is a difference, we would like […]

The wisdom behind the prescription of zakaah

Question: Is there any particular reason why zakaah is prescribed? Answer: Praise be to Allaah.  Firstly:  It should be noted that Allaah does not prescribe anything that is not for the best reasons and does not achieve the best interests. Allaah is the All-Knowing, Who encompasses all things by His knowledge, and He is the […]

Riba (Usury and Interest)

Riba (Usury and Interest) According to Quran and Sunnah  Defining the Problem Riba (Usury) is of two major kinds:  .Riba An-Nasia – Interest on lent money.  Riba Al-Fadl – Taking a superior thing of the same kind of goods by giving more of the same kind of goods of inferior quality, eg.,dates of superior quality […]