Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Zakat – A right of the poor
We are on the fourth and final week of the holy Ramadan. If someone is having a “nesab” amount of money/assets for the last one year then that person will have to spend part of it in the will of Allah. Zakat is usually one share out of the forty share of accumulate wealth over one year. This is compulsory. If anyone refuses to pay then that person is said to be “Kafer”. And would face severe punishment on the day of “Gheama”. Allah has clearly reflected this very concept in the following,
الذين يكنزون الذهب والفضة ولا ينفقونها في سبيل الله فبشرهم بعذاب أليم-يوميحمى عليها في نارخهنم فتىوى بها جبا ههم و خنو بهم وظهور هم هذا ما كنز تم لا نفسكم فذوقوا ما كنتم تكنزون
Verily those who accumulate the gold/silver but do not spend in the path of Allah, you (O Mohammad [S:) inform them about the severe punishment. That day those gold/silver will be heated in the fire of Jahannam and a mark would be made on their faces, sides and back with these,
(And the angels will continue to say) these are those materials that you bought for yourself, now you have a test for it. Further those who are due to offer their Zakat but not offering yet then their money/assets will bite them turning into snake and would continue to say “I am your unoffered Zakat assets”. I am your un offered Zakat Products” (Bokhari).
On the contrary, those who pay Zakat of their money/assets, then their money/assets for which Zakat has been offered, are increased. Allah revealed in Sura Rum, Ayat 39.
وَمَا آتَيْتُم مِّن زَكَاةٍ تُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُضْعِفون
And what you offer as Zakat for the pleasure of Allah, that is eventually being doubled.
Allah further mentions in Sura Bakara, Ayat 261.
مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنْبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنْبُلَةٍ مِئَةُ حَبَّةٍ وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it growth seven ears, and each ear hath a hundred grain. Allah giveth manifold increase to whom he pleaseth: And Allah careth for all and he knoweth all things.
From the discussions made above it is clear that if we give charity or offer any zakat then the money or assets for which charity or Zakat is paid, is not reduced rather increased. There is no reason to believe that someone would render poor, provided that person offer zakat or that would be a sort of penalty we would have to pay out from our pocket.
Zakat and salat are complementary to each other. Someone’s salat is said to be not accepted if that person’s Zakat was not paid off.
Zakat can be paid any time during a year but it is better to pay during the month of Ramadan. It may be the case that we can miss out paying zakat for any past year, if so, then those can be cleared as early as possible.
There are some people who are not Sahebe-nesab, but poor and needy who are very shy to go to someone else asking for any Zakat, it is, in that case better the Zakat owner should themselves approach them for offering them the Zakat.
Allah has mentioned in Sura “Muzzammil” “Fackimus Salate va tuzzakat” so establish Salat and offer Zakat. As this Sura was revealed in the early days of Islam, it is likely that the people started paying Zakat from that time. But at that time the “nesab” amount or rate of payment of Zakat was not fixed. People used to give as Zakat whatever amount they wished to from the amount that left after meeting the expenditure of the family for the whole year. The nesab amount or rate of payment of Zakat was fixed after hijra when Huzur[s:] migrated from Mecca to Medina. And all the rules and regulations with respect to Zakat and Fitra were framed after the battle of Mecca.
There must be some accuracy in the calculation of Zakat. If the amount of zakat to be paid is more or less than the actual amount then that amount would be considered as charity but not as zakat. So one must ensure before it’s payment that the amount calculated is exact. A rate of Fitra at Taka 65 in the lowest and Taka 1980 in the highest is decided to pay in Bangladesh.
Look forward to see you all in the upcoming event on this Sunday,
Va salamo aleikum va rahmattollahe va barakato,
Nazmul Ahsan
