Islam's five pillars are the cornerstones upon which we build such an outstanding and worshipful life. But no such establishment of a dignified life of faith on earth, either personally or socially, can take place without one essential pillar that represents the intersection of our professed convictions and our practical lives. Zakaah is that pillar, for it is the primary instrument that Allaah has placed at our disposal to spiritually and socially uplift every Muslim and the entirety of our community and thereby to assert a benevolent hand for the commonweal of humanity.

The Overarching Meaning of Zakaah

The Arabic word 'Zakaah' means 'purity,' 'cleansing,' 'wholesomeness,' and 'integrity' (in both their physical and moral senses). It means, also, 'growth' or 'increase.' Understanding these linguistic meanings helps our proper appreciation of what Zakaah is as a financial, or fiduciary rite mandated by Allaah. For, indeed, each of these senses finds its native expression in Zakaah's correct function in our lives and in our local communities and societies.

Zakaah's primary goal is not that of simple "charity." Allaah has instituted other mechanisms for this purpose. Rather, Zakaah is much farther seeing and reaching. Its objective is to secure the psycho-spiritual well-being of every single Muslim as an individual servant of Allaah, and to safeguard the socio-moral welfare of the entire Muslim nation.

The reason that the objectives of Zakaah are so profound and sweeping is that its principle is so universally sound and materially decisive. Zakaah is the incumbent giving of wealth, in all its material manifestations, from all those who have it (and this is its comprehensive aspect) to all those whose need gives them a right to a minimally dignifying sum from it—and this is its deeper significance. For it means that Allaah has chosen to invest the wealth of some of us, for lawful increase, with others among us as a trust that must be conveyed to its rightful beneficiaries, if our own holdings are to remain pure and our societies are to have integrity.

What is, indeed, so profound about this is that it underscores to humanity that all of its wealth, in fact, is disbursed to it on loan from Allaah, who, as the Creator, is the sole Owner of life and all that the living possess. Allaah has revealed this pillar of faith to every believing community in history. But He has expanded it into an inclusive, highly systematized institution enjoined upon all who would follow Islam.

Channels Of Zakaah

General Guidelines On Zakaah

Adapted From islamweb.net