This article is part of a series on Islamic System of Government. Please read full series here.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is a certain amount payable by the financially fortunate ones to… wait a minute!
To whom is Zakat paid?
Common concept is that Zakat is Paid by the rich to the poor, which is somewhat correct, not completely correct.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into it.
How Was Zakat Managed During the Time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?
At the time of beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Zakat was collected by the Prophet himself or under his own supervision. And it was a requirement to pay Zakat to the collectors sent by the Prophet. There are several accounts which are well known regarding this:
1. First of all, Allah clearly ordered Muhammad ﷺ to COLLECT Zakat from the rich Muslims:
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ صَدَقَةًۭ تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ إِنَّ صَلَوٰتَكَ سَكَنٌۭ لَّهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Al-Quran 9:103
Take from their wealth ˹O Prophet˺ charity (Zakat) to purify and bless them, and pray for them—surely your prayer is a source of comfort for them. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
2. When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sent Hazrat Mu’adh (R.A) to Yemen, he ordered Mu`adh to tell them that Zakat would be TAKEN FROM them (by Mu`adh).
Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophetﷺ sent Mu`adh to Yemen and said, Invite the people to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I am (Muhammadﷺ) Allah’s Apostle, and if they obey you, then teach them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in every day and night (in twenty-four hours), and if they obey you, then teach them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pay the Zakat from their property and it is to be taken from the wealthy among them and given to the poor.
Sahih Al-Bukhari 1395
In another narration of the same incident, the ravi quoted that Prophet ﷺ ordered Mu`adh(R.A) to TAKE Zakat after the Yemenis who join Islam:
Narrated Ibn Abbas: When Allah’s Apostleﷺ sent Mu`adh to Yemen, he said (to him), YOU are going to people of a (Divine) Book. First of all invite them to worship Allah (alone) and when they come to know Allah, inform them that Allah has enjoined on them, five prayers in every day and night; and if they start offering these prayers, inform them that Allah has enjoined on them, the Zakat And it is to be taken from the rich amongst them and given to the poor amongst them; and if they obey you in that, take (Zakat) from them and avoid (don’t take) the best property of the people as Zakat.
Sahih Al-Bukhari 1458
3. Abu Bakar R.A wrote a notification for the People of Bahrain, and ordered the people to pay Zakat to Assignee of that notification. i.e. the people were REQUIRED to pay Zakat to the state:
Narrated Anas: When Abu Bakr; sent me to (collect the Zakat from) Bahrain, he wrote to me the following:
Sahih Al-Bukhari 1454
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. These are the orders for compulsory charity (Zakat) which Allah’s Apostle had made obligatory for every Muslim, and which Allah had ordered His Apostle to observe: Whoever amongst the Muslims is asked to pay Zakat accordingly, he should pay it (to the Zakat collector) and whoever is asked more than that (as specified in this script) he should not pay it…”
Anyone considering himself a Muslim and a citizen of Prophet’s state, was required to pay Zakat to the government.
When the Prophet passed away, the first thing Abu Bakr (R.A) – the first caliph after the Prophet – did, was to prosecute the ones who stopped giving Zakat. When Omar R.A suggested him to avoid such a conflict, Abu Bakar’s reply is etched in history beautifully:
Abu Bakr said, By Allah! I will fight those who differentiate between the prayer and the Zakat (i.e. pray Salat but don’t give Zakat) as Zakat is the compulsory right to be taken from the property (according to Allah’s orders). By Allah! If they refuse to pay me even a child she-goat which they used to pay at the time of Allah’s Apostle, I would fight with them for withholding it. Later Umar was recorded saying, By Allah, it was nothing, but Allah had opened Abu Bakr’s chest towards the decision (to fight) and I realize that his decision was right.
Sahih Al-Bukhari 1400
From above narrations, it’ clear that if someone did not pay Zakat to the caliphate (it’d include the people claiming that they’d pay it directly to the poor instead of handing over to the caliphate), he was considered:
a. not a Muslim in the first place.
b. a defaulter or a Rebel, if he used to pay Zakat to the Caliphate and then stopped paying.
Now, if a region was governed by the caliphate, there would be only two cases of Zakat collection:
a. if a person accepts Islam, he’d pay Zakat to the caliphate.
b. if a person did not accept Islam, he’d pay tax to the caliphate for providing him the shelter of the state.
So, to be considered a Muslim in the first place, every abiding citizen was required to pay Zakat to the caliphate otherwise they’d pay tax.
How would the Collected Zakat Be Spent?
Let’s have a look at an incident after Abu Bakar became the caliph:
When Abu Bakr As-Siddiq was chosen Caliph, he said:
Sahih Bukhari 2070
“My people know that my profession was not incapable of providing substance to my family. And as I will be busy serving the Muslim nation, my family will eat from the National Treasury of Muslims, and I will practice the profession of serving the Muslims.”
Abu Bakar, technically speaking, was not poor, because he had the ability to work in the market as a trader. He had the energy and ability to trade in the market himself. But he was stopped from doing that, and was instead compensated from the Treasury i.e. collections of Zakat.
This is a prime example of the true purpose of Zakat.
In the caliphate, Zakat was what is Tax in a modern state i.e. Zakat was the money collected from the rich and was used to:
Abu Bakar, technically speaking, was not poor, because he had the ability to work in the market as a trader. He had the energy and ability to trade in the market himself. But he was stopped from doing that, and was instead compensated from the Treasury i.e. collections of Zakat.
This is a prime example of the true purpose of Zakat.
In the caliphate, Zakat was what is Tax in a modern state i.e. Zakat was the money collected from the rich and was used to:
- Run the expenses of the state including, but not limited to, the compensations of the government servants.
- Provide for the less fortunate ones.
- Run the operational expenses of the state.
- Provide for the families of the soldiers fighting on the borders etc.
It’s worth noting that Zakat was the ONLY mandatory collection from the Muslims living in the caliphate. Tax, on the other hand, was a for of service charges taken from non-Muslims for provision of state shelter to them.
Since we are at it, it’s worth mentioning that Zakat was not the only income stream of caliphate. There were more ways the state was earning money to meet certain expenses.
- War booties: Allah had opened the doors of His mercy on caliphate by awarding them victories, resulting in collection of booties from war. A portion of war booties, were collected by the state and the caliph would spend them where needed.
- Donations/Contributions: There are several accounts of prophet Muhammadﷺ, when he made public announcements for the citizens of his state to make donations for a specific purpose, especially, when there was an imminent war or voyage.
- Gifts: People would come over to Prophet Muhammadﷺ, and gift him things like food and garments. He would then either distribute them or keep them to himself.
In the beginning, when the war booty was not much, and the state of Madinah was a small town with very few resources at hand, donations and contributions made a significant part of state’s Treasury – which was usually spent soon after collection. Later on, as the state grew, so did the war booties and Zakat collection, so the need for donations vanished accordingly.
How was the concept of Zakat Wronged?
I’m not really sure how the current concept of Zakat (where people take out 2.5% of their savings and donate to poor themselves) was established. But common sense says that when the governments started imposing extra taxes on its people, and in most cases started depending on taxes while Zakat collection was not even a consideration, scholars derived a way out to keep the fifth pillar of Islam, by asking people to donate 2.5% of their savings to the poor every year themselves. I’m not here to discuss whether it was a good idea or not, it is however clear that it was not how prophet Muhammadﷺ used to do it.
How should Zakat be implemented in modern times?
Instead of criticising what’s have been happening, let’s try to find out, how should the concept of Zakat be implemented today.
Since:
- NO GOVERNMENT around the world is running on Islamic principles, instead governments are oppressing their people with taxes and fines. All governments around the world are running their economies on interest based transactions.
- Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
كلكم راعٍ، وكلكم مسئول عن رعيته، والأمير راعٍ، والرجل راعٍ على أهل بيته؛ والمرأة راعية على بيت زوجها وولده، فكلكم راعٍ، وكلكم مسؤول عن رعيته
Al-Bukhari 5200
The Prophet ﷺ said, “All of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects. The ruler is a guardian of his subjects, the man is a guardian of his family, the woman is a guardian and is responsible for her husband’s house and his offspring; and so all of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects.”
However, Allah S.W.T says in Quran:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا أَطِيعُوا ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُولِى ٱلْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ ۖ
Al-Quran 4:59
O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.
So the takeaway stance would be that each of us is required to implement a caliphate over our area of responsibility WITHOUT conflicting with the state.
A father must motivate his children to live a life of taqwa and avoid Haram doings. He may punish them for wrongdoing but he CANNOT punish them beyond state’s law. i.e. he can’t hurt them to cause an injury or abuse them otherwise.
Similarly, the owner/manager of a business or organisation would discipline his people within his own area of responsibility, but he cannot give physical punishments to his employees; and so on.