> why is Zakah so crucially important ?

                           Why is Zakah so crucially important

An extract from book " Let us be Muslim "  by Moulana Syed Abul Ala Moududi  R A                                                     
                                                                                                                      


Meaning of Zakah :


Brothers in Islam! It is abundantly clear that Zakah, the Almsgiving, is no less important than performing Salah, the Prayer. Indeed those who refuse to pay Zakah fall outside the pale of Islam; against them even Jihad may be waged as did the Companions. But why is Zakah so crucially important? What is its true meaning? To these questions I shall address myself now.




Becoming God's Friends :


Let us first look at another important question: How can one come near to God and be His friend? What makes one worthy of being included in His party? Only some among you may be so naïve as to befriend a person without considering whether he is really fit to be a friend or not. Those who do so are likely to be deceived in their friendship and face disappointments because of it. But if you are wise and prudent, you always choose your friends carefully after ascertaining whether they are true and loyal friends or not.


Allah is the Wisest and most Prudent of all. Will He ever make anybody His friend, or include him in His party, or accord him a place of honour in His sight, without first testing and trying Him? Obviously not. Of all the millions of people on earth, by no means everyone is fit to deserve a place in God's party, be made his vicegerent, or accorded a place near Him in the eternal life. He must see if the person concerned meets the necessary criteria. Not because Allah is unaware, but because, through this process of testing and trial, anyone who is true in his faith is shaped and uplifted to become worthy of God's highest rewards and honours.


What, then, are these criteria and the tests?


Wisdom and Understanding :


First of all Allah tests your wisdom and understanding. You should possess the proper understanding. You should be able to conclude from all the evidence around you that none but Allah alone is your Creator and Lord; no one but He can sustain you, hear your prayers and help you. You should be able recognize the revelation and message which has come from him. You should also be able to distinguish between a true prophet and a false claiment to prophethood and between their morals, dealing, teachings and achievements. You should also be able to discern true guidance from the false.


Only if you pass this test, will Allah include you in His party. If not, you will be left to your own devices.




To show that you have the necessary moral strength you must demonstrate that, after having recognized and accepted truth and righteousness, you have the will to live by them and renounce the ways of falsehood and evil. You must further prove that you are no more slaves to your own physical desires, nor do you blindly follow the practices and customs of your ancestors and families, the values and norms of your cultures and societies. Neither should you knowingly accept anything contrary to God's guidance, nor reject anything it tells you.


If you fail this examination you are refused admission into Allah's party, for He picks only those whose definition is:


So whosoever rejects false gods and believes in God has indeed taken hold of the most firm handle which shall never break (al- Baqarah 2: 256).


Obedience and Dutifulness :


Once you pass this examination you appear in a third examination. This time your obedience and sense of duty are put to the test. Here, you are told: Whenever We call you, you must come. Give up the warmth and comfort of your sleep, but come and present yourself before Us. Interrupt your work, but come you must to Our work. On our command remain hungry and thirsty from morning till evening and abstain from gratifying your physical desires. Give up your pleasures, forgo your profits, sacrifice your interests, but discharge your duty. Whether hot or cold, easy of difficult, in all circumstances, rush when summoned to duty, disregarding every difficulty, surmounting every obstacle.


God's summons must be answered, no matter whatever the odds, whatever the temptations, however long and hard the road. If you fail this examination you are not worthy of God's trust. If you pass it, however, you will have shown that you can be expected to obey all laws which have been given you by God in all circumstances, whether they appear to your advantage or disadvantage.


Sacrificing Wealth :


Even now, you cannot be reckoned entirely worthy of employment in the service of God. One more test remains: that you are not narrow-hearted and niggardly. That you are not like those who make big claims of love and friendship but when required to part with their wealth for the sake of the so-called friend, they fall Back and begin to make excuses. That you are not like those Hindus who worship a cow, but when it tries to eat some of their food, they hit it and push it away.


While anyone with a little common sense would not befriend such a selfish and mean money-worshipper, a large-hearted person would not like even to sit Next to such a despicable creature. So how can the Most-generous God, the Most High and Exalted, who showers His treasures incessantly and lavishly on His creatures, admit you to His friendship? Are you not then guilty of refusing to spend the very money in the cause of God, which He gave you in the first place? And how can that God who is All-wise trust such a person for His party whose friendship is confined to mere verbal jugglery?


If you fail this fourth examination you are told unequivocally: 'Go away. There is no room for you in Allah's party. You cannot discharge that great responsibility which is entrusted to a vicegerent, of God. For in this party only those are included who sacrifice their love of life, wealth, Children, family, country, everything for the love of God'.


Never shall you attain piety unless you spend [in the way of God] out of what you love (Al 'Imran 3: 92).


Requirements for Admittance of God's Friendship


To be admitted into the party of Allah, you must, therefore, possess some fundamental qualities, with respect to your wealth.


Large-heartedness :


First: The niggardly and stingy have no place in God's party; only the large-hearted who give willingly and abundantly in His way deserve to be admitted.


And whoso is saved from the avarice of his inner self, it is they who are successful (al-Hashr 59: 9).




Let not those of you who possess bounty and plenty among you swear not to give to the kinsmen and the poor, and those who have emigrated in the way of God. Let them pardon and forgive and show indulgence. Yearn you not that God should forgive you? God is All-forgiving, the Mercy-giving (al-Nur 24: 22).


Selflessness :


Third: You must be selfless, seeking no reward, placing no burden.


They give good, for love of Him, to the needy and the orphan and the prisoner, [saying]: we feed you only for the sake of God. We desire no reward from you, nor thanks (al-Dahr 76: 8 - 9).




O believers! Spend out of the good things you have earned, and of that We bring forth for you from the earth. And intend not to spend the bad thereof (al-Baqarah 2: 267).


Giving in Adversity :


Fifth: Even when in poverty and adversity, you should not hesitate to deny yourselves your basic needs to find money to spend in Allah's cause and in helping His creatures.


Vie with one another, hastening to forgiveness from your Lord, and towards a Paradise as wide as are the heavens and earth, prepared for the God-conscious who spend both in prosperity and in adversity (Al 'Imran 3: 133).


Giving in Affluence :


Sixth: In affluence and prosperity, too, you must not forget God. While living in luxury and comfort you must remember Him and spend your wealth in His way.


O believers! Let not your possessions neither your children divert you from God's remembrance; whoso does so, it they who are the losers (al-Munafiqun 63: 9).


Giving For Allah Alone :


Seventh: Your faith must be strong that whatever is spent in the cause of Allah is never wasted, that God will give you better and abundant rewards for it, both in this world and in the a Hereafter. You should, therefore, spend your money for one motive alone: to earn the pleasure of Allah. Whether people know about your generosity or not, whether someone has thanked you or not, should not matter at all.


Whatever good you spend, it is for your own good. And spend not but only for seeking God's countenance. Thus whatever good you spend shall be recompensed in full and you will not be wronged (al-Baqarah 2: 272).


These seven qualities are essential if you aspire to belong to Allah's party; without them you cannot claim to be His friends. They constitute not only a test of your morals but a more severe and revealing test of your Iman. When called upon to give your wealth for the sole purpose of earning God's pleasure, if you avoid spending, regard such spending as a fine imposed on you, make excuses to wriggle out of it, or, when you spend, try to lessen your pain by stressing your benevolence upon the recipients, then indeed your faith in God and in the Hereafter is not true. The same is true if you think that whatever you spend in the cause of God is wasted; if luxury, comfort, enjoyment and fame are all dearer to you than God and His pleasure; if you think that all that matters is confined to the present life which only is real; if you believe that money should be spend only for self-glorification. The Qur'an clearly states that all these things in a person make his spending unacceptable in the sight of Allah. He claims to possess Iman, but in fact he is a hypocrite. Note what the Qur'an says:




Amassing Wealth :


They who hoard up treasures of gold and silver and spend them not in the way of God, unto them give the good tidings of a painful punishment (al-Tawbah 9: 34).


Making Excuses :


Those who believe in God and the Last Day ask no leave of you, lest they may strive with their wealth and their lives. God knows the God-conscious. Only those ask leave of you who believe not in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts are filled with doubt, so that in their doubt they waver (al-Tawbah 9: 44 - 5).


Spending Reluctantly and Resentfully :


And nothing prevents that their spendings be accepted from them, but that they believe not in God and His Messenger, and perform not the Prayer save reluctantly and spend not without resenting (al-Tawbah 9: 54).


The hypocrites, the men and the women, are as one another. They enjoin the doing of wrong and forbid the doing of right, and they keep their hands shut [from spending in the way of God]. They have forgotten God, so He has forgotten them. The hypocrites, it is they who are iniquitous (al-Tawbah 9: 67).




Niggardliness :


There you are! You are called upon to spend in the way of God yet some among you are niggardly. Whoso is niggardly is niggardly only to his own soul. God is the All-sufficient; you are the needy ones. If you turn away [from spending in the way of God], He will substitute another people instead of you, then they will not be the likes of you (Muhammad 47: 38).


The Real Test : 


This, brothers, is the real meaning and import of Zakah which sustains the edifice of Islam. Do not consider it a tax like the tax levied by governments. It is the basis and essence of Islam and its very life-blood. It tests your faith and strengthens it. Just as one progresses from one examination to another until he graduates on passing his final examination to another until he graduates on passing his final examination, so are there several examinations to test your willingness to sacrifice your wealth. Even then this is not the final test. A much harder test is that of sacrificing life, to which I shall come later. That is the final component of the party of Allah.


Some people today say that Muslims have been told enough how to spend money and to squander wealth and that, in their present state of poverty, they ought to be taught how to earn and amass money. These people are unable to understand that giving in the way of Allah, which arouses their displeasure, is the very spirit of Islam. What has plunged Muslims into their present ignominy is the lack of this spirit, not an abundance of it. This spirit was not the cause of their decline, but they declined because this spirit had evaporated.
Considering Spending a Fine :


Some of the Bedouins [hypocrites] take what they spend [in the way of God] for a fine (al-Tawbah 9: 98).


Stressing Benevolence :


O believers! Void not your charitable deeds by stressing your own benevolence and by hurting [the recipients], like the one who spends his wealth only to show off to people and believes not in God and the Last Day (al-Baqarah 2: 264).


Purity of Heart :


Fourth: You must have such purity of heart that you give away, in the cause of Allah, only your most treasured possessions, realizing full well that they are God's and not your:


Magnanimity :


Second: You must be magnanimous, by a greatness of heart that rises above every feeling pertaining to yourselves, above resentment against any injury or insult. If somebody causes you harm or grief, you must still not, for the sake of Allah, refuse him food and clothing nor should you hesitate to help him when he is in trouble:


Moral Strength :


Then comes the second examination: here your moral strength is tested.