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Justice and Charity: Zakat Work in Canada How collecting and distributing zakat changes one’s perception of it BY KATHERINE BULLOCK & AREEB DAIMEE
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nyone who studies the Quran, the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the vast juristic and philosophical tradition of commentary and treatises cannot but notice the emphasis on social justice and looking after the poor, the needy and the vulnerable. On June 3, the Irving, Texas-based Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research (https://yaqeeninstitute.org) published a pioneering investigation into how Canada’s Muslims respond to this call for social justice and the Quranic demand for zakat as an essential element of belief. How do they view and operationalize it? Our research is based on interviews with two employees/ volunteers each from four Sunni Canadian organizations whose work includes zakat collection and distribution. We present the interviewees’ answers through the themes of how zakat relates to being Muslim, how working in the field of
zakat distribution has changed their understanding of it and what special touches they bring to their work. Very simply, zakat is one of Islam’s five pillars, an obligatory annual charity for those whose income is above a minimum level required to sustain basic needs. It is calculated at 2.5% of income and assets maintained over that one-year period above that level. Different percentages are applied to farming and businesses. If someone is below the minimum level, they do not pay zakat; rather, they are entitled to receive it. But zakat is more profound than this seemingly simple mathematical calculation. The Quran teaches that zakat is a means of purifying one’s wealth (9:103), which is defined as a trust that God has given to whomever He pleases (4:37, 34:39), as the right of the poor (70:24-5) and a way to circulate wealth within a community (59:7). Those who do not pay it are warned of their punishment in the hereafter. After all, they have ignored the true
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owner of their wealth (God) and disregarded the plight of the poor (9:34). All the interviewees felt that giving zakat/ charity is essential to being a Muslim. Many of them explained how it is the foundation of one’s connection with God. As one of the five pillars, paying zakat is a way of showing one’s obedience to and love for God and His commands. Many interviewees also noted the connection the Quran makes between prayer and charity (e.g., 2:43, 4:162, 5:55, 9:18, 21:73 and 22:41). One manager reasoned that prayer is a person’s “connection to God” and that zakat is a person’s “connection with the people.” Our interviewees connected charity to other virtues, such as promoting neighborliness, controlling greed, emphasizing empathy and promoting justice. Scholars also emphasize multiple normative roles of zakat: • Purification of the giver’s wealth (spiritual component)
