In the first place, we must differentiate between Zakah and tax. Zakah has a spiritual nature and has its roots in the revelation, whereas secular taxes are imposed by the civil or secular authority.
Secondly, the function of Zakah is clearly defined as catering for eight categories, whereas taxes have much wider applications.
Thirdly, tax collection depends on the power and skill of the authorities, which induces many people to seek to avoid, if not evade payment. Zakah, being a religious duty, has the consciousness of the believer as an inducement towards payment. There is an invisible collector of Zakah living in the heart of every Muslim. You can cheat the government, but how can you cheat Allah? For this reason, Zakah remains an obligation on the Muslim.
There is no excuse for Muslims to withhold Zakah. The aim of Shari`ah is to help the poor and needy to be self-sufficient. It is not to encourage the culture of dependence. Islam abhors those who make begging a profession. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once bought an axe for a poor man to collect fire wood to sell and feed himself and his family. This example should inspire the Zakah authorities into projects that affect the fundamental solution of poverty. It should fund training schemes to make the skills of the poor more marketable. It should also finance projects that give jobs and supply needed goods and services such as textile factories, machine tool manufacture and cheap housing.
Zakah Is a Solution of Poverty
Modern economics shun aid which meets immediate consumption. There are, of course, cases where the need for food and other consumer goods is too urgent. But Zakah funds should plan to achieve the aim of the Shari`ah, that is to find a long term solution to poverty and dependence. In this respect, I would like to differentiate between Zakah Al-Fitr (Zakah for breaking the fast) and Zakah Al-Mal (wealth tax). The former should be exclusively for consumption as the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised us to bring joy and plenty to every household on the occasion of `Eid Al- Fitr. But the latter should be an allocation of long-term projects.
The imposition of an organized Zakah collection system should be the objective of every Islamic state, both for the benefit of social peace and religious fulfillment. This might create a problem where Muslims live side by side with non-Muslims. It would not be just to charge the Muslim with both civil and religious taxes while the non-Muslim neighbor pays only one tax. In the past, non-Muslims used to pay Jizyah which was the counterpart of Zakah from Muslims.[1]
Economy occupies a large part of our life. We cannot pass even a day without undertaking any economic activity, whatever it is. Even eating or sleeping for a while comes within the purview of economics. As for example, why do we eat? We eat to survive. Why do we survive? We survive for work. Why should we work? We work just to earn our bread. How do we get bread? We get it either for money or by producing. Therefore, both money and production are the two most important parts of economy.[2] The Glorious Qur’an and Sunnah involve a lot of texts that exhort for charity, Zakah and doing works that benefit human society. If the system of Zakah in Islam is understood well and properly it verifies the divine nature of Islam. Truly, the system came from none other than the Almighty Allah, who created everything including people and the universe. Manmade theory may be wrong. But, there is no slightest degree of doubt that Allah’s System is perfect and beneficial for all.
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When the principle of Zakah in Islam is
examined on the fair and logical criteria it bears the ample evidence on
the divinity and truth of Islam.
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