Zakat Zakat is one of the key pillars of Islam and is a religious obligation that has to be fullled by distributing a specic portion of the money earned by Muslims in the form of alms-giving and charity. It has been ranked next to Sala’at in terms of signicance in the Holy Qura’an. For a Muslim to be eligible to pay Zakat, he/she must be under the ownership of a specic amount of wealth or savings (after living costs, expenses etc). This threshold is Islamically termed as Nisaab and the eligible Muslims need to pay 2.5% of this Nisaab in the form of charity or Zakat to the deserving and needy. Zakat is a means to create balance in the society and to narrow the distance amid the two nancially different sectors of a society. Moreover, the beauty of Zakat is that it is a relative amount in terms of the wealth owned by a person and not a xed gure, this enables Muslims to make a contribution in the way of Allah according to their stature. On the other hand, Zakat –ul – Fitr is termed as the charity that is distributed amongst the poor and the needy at the end of the Holy month of Ramadan. Zakat ul-Fitr, unlike Zakat, is compulsory on every able muslim, unless they he/she does not have the means to do so. It amounts to one Sa' (approx. 2.2kg) of dried dates or rice. The categories of people deserving of Zakat and Zakat al-Fitr have been mentioned in Surat Al-Tawbah, (9: 60) and include: 1.The Fuqara’ (the poor) 2.Al-Maskin (the needy) 3.Aamileen (Zakat collector) 4.Muallafatul Quloob (poor and needy who recently converted to Islam) 5.Ar-Riqaab (slaves; Zakat can be used to purchase their freedom) 6.Ibnus-Sabeel: A stranded traveller in need of nancial assistance. 7.Al Ghaarimeen: A debtor 8.Fi Sabeelillah: Those who are away from home in the path of Allah. Zakat and Zakat-ul-Fitr are the purication of a Muslim’s wealth and by paying it we acknowledge that everything we have is Allah Ta’ala’s. Fidya is a compensation given to the needy by those who are unable to fast due to long-term ill health; whereas, Kafara is a similar compensation made by those who break or miss their fast intentionally without a good reason.
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