The Implications of Zakat

The Implications of Zakat - Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Opening

الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ أَمَّا بَعْدُ

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

The Purpose of Creation and the Distraction of Wealth

We all know that the purpose of our creation is the worship of Allah - men and jinn in order to worship me. I'm sure all of you have heard of that verse. But have you ever looked at the verse right after it? We've all heard of the verse Allah is speaking in the first person. That there's only one purpose I've created you. I have only created you. This is an exclusionary verse. All other possible motives for creation have been ruled out. I have only created you for the sole purpose of what:

"I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me."

Men and jinn. Humankind and jinn. There's only one reason of creation. And that is (عِبَادَةُ اللهِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ) There is no deity worthy of worship except for Allah.

Now the verse right after this one is almost always neglected and ignored. People just skip over it, zoom over it. Because they think it's not relevant to the verse itself. But Allah does not have any verse that is irrelevant to the context in which it is recited. The very next verse Allah says:

"I want from them no provision, nor do I want them to feed Me."

I don't want any money from them. Nor do I want them to feed me. Rather Allah is the one who gives you your wealth and your rizq and your sustenance. And Allah is the one who feeds you.

Now think about it. Why would Allah say I created you to worship me? And the very next verse is about money? Think about that. Allah says I created all of you only to worship me. And then says I'm not asking for your wealth. I'm not asking for your rizq. I'm not asking for your food to feed me. Rather I am the one who will give you your sustenance and food.

Well, the correlation is in fact obvious if you think about it. And that is the primary distraction for the worship of Allah is the pursuit of money. I repeat: The number one reason because of which, due to which people are persuaded or dissuaded from worshipping Allah is because of the dunya.

Look around you. What is the number one motivation for being dedicated for giving up everything? It is the acquisition of wealth. It is studying. It is doing whatever you can. More money, more money, more money. And Allah says that look this money that you want it's in my hands. I'm the one who's gonna give it to you. Don't be persuaded. Don't be dissuaded. Don't be swayed by the false lure of money against the noble goal of worshipping Him. And so Allah says when you worship me I will make you rich. Don't worry I don't want your money. I will give you your money if you worship me.

"Indeed, Allah is the Provider, the firm possessor of strength."

Allah is Ar-Razzaq. Allah is telling you your rizq is with me because I am Ar-Razzaq. And so money and the worship of Allah, Allah linked them together not because of a positive relationship but to demonstrate that no one should ever, ever fall to the false promise of money being more important than the worship of Allah. And Allah tells us when you worship Ar-Razzaq, Ar-Razzaq will provide what you need.

Pre-Islamic Arab Generosity and the Prophet Ibrahim's Legacy

And you know the Quran was revealed, as you know, in a society or perhaps if we don't know we'll educate ourselves, in a society that believe it or not would actually emphasize charity. The Arabs they had a lot of bad traits - they would kill their daughters alive as you know, they would do a lot of mean things - but they also were known for some very positive traits. The Jahili Arabs they had a lot of positive as well. And of those positive traits is that they were a generous people. And they looked up to generosity.

People such as Hatim At-Ta'i is a well-known legendary Arab who would give literally hundreds and thousands, it is said, of camels and sheep he would sacrifice them to feed the wayfarer and the poor. And the Arabs looked up to him they admired him. And of course they should admire him because they are the children of Ismail and Ibrahim. And Ibrahim as we know was the first person who was hospitable. Ibrahim, our Prophet said: The very first person who was hospitable to others who fed guests who was nice to other people who came visited him. The very first person to do Ziyafah was the Prophet Ibrahim.

So they valued the tradition of feeding others. They valued the tradition of being generous to others. And there is an expression in Arabic that basically signifies when somebody is generous they said he has a tent pole that is very high. This is how they would say he is generous. How so? This means he would cook fires that would require air. And so the tent would have to be large to accommodate that air. So they would describe somebody who is generous as somebody his tent pole was very high because he would cook fires for the people to feed them.

Likewise, Aisha for example asked about one of her relatives Abdullah Ibn Jud'an that she says Oh Messenger of Allah My uncle Abdullah Ibn Jud'an he was nice and he was feeding the poor and he was nice to the orphans. Will Allah accept his good deeds? Now the point here she expected or she hoped that because Ibn Jud'an before the coming of Islam was a good person by feeding the people by showing his hospitality that perhaps Allah would forgive him.

Our Prophet said that he might have done that but he never once believed in Allah or worshipped Allah. And we know in our religion Iman and Amr As-Saleh they have to go hand in hand. That faith and good deeds are both required. You can't have one to the exclusion of the other.

Early Meccan Revelations About Charity

And a lot of people they say Zakat was revealed in one of the early stages of Medina. But they neglect - It is true by the way Zakat was revealed in Medina. But they neglect that the concept of charity was not just revealed in Medina. It is true Zakat which is the wajib element of charity came down in the second year of the Hijrah. That's true. But we neglect that being charitable, being generous, sharing your wealth with the poor - This is of the earliest of Meccan revelations.

It is true to say that by the time the third or fourth revelation came down, the very earliest of revelations that Allah was emphasizing charity and hospitality and feeding the poor, in particular feeding the poor. For example Allah says in a very early Meccan surah:

"Nor does he urge [others] to feed the poor."

You're not encouraging each other to feed those who are hungry. You're not encouraging one another. Forget you're not doing it. You're not even encouraging others to do it. As a community. As a society. You're not encouraging each other to take care of those who are deprived and have empty stomachs, hungry stomachs.

Allah says in another very early Meccan surah:

"And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass? [It is] freeing a slave"

Do you know what it is to achieve the highest level? Do you know what it is to get to the highest level? It is to free a slave. It is to free a slave. Or what is equivalent to freeing a slave? Feeding someone.

أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ

On a day when you don't have that much yourself. When you yourself want your food. And by the way, when these verses came down, salah was not obligatory. There was no fasting of Ramadan. Zakah had not yet been legislated. That would come in the second year of the Hijrah.

But a decade before Zakah was revealed, Allah said, do you really want to know how to get to Jannah? Feed somebody when you yourself need that food. When it's a difficult day, go find somebody else to give that food to. Who should you find? An orphan that's related to you. Or a beggar who has nothing but the dust.

(مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ) - literally he has nothing but the dust. You might have a little bit of food, but you have something for tomorrow. Something will happen, give up that food, and give it to somebody else who needs it.

And yet another very early Meccan revelation, all of these within the first 3-4 years of the Hijrah. Allah mentions:

"And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, [Saying], "We feed you only for the countenance of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude."

They give their food, although they love it. They give their food even though they love it. They give it to people even though they need it. And when they give it, Allah says that they tell the recipients, don't even thank me.

They tell the recipients when they give their food that they love, do not thank me. I don't want your thanks. (إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ) - We're giving you this food for the sake of Allah.

We don't want anything back from you. This is what our religion tells us to do. We don't want a PR opportunity. We don't want the media flashing photographs at us. We don't even want you to say thank you. We don't even want that.

(إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمْكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ) - We are feeding you in order to please our Lord. We're feeding you in order to get His reward and not reward back from you.

The Profound Language of Arabic Regarding Money and Charity

And subhanAllah, just as a tangent here, slight tangent, anybody who's taken my classes or lectures knows I have a very... I think it's a bad habit. My students say it's a good habit. I go into these tangents and then come back to the lecture. Just a quick tangent here, that subhanAllah, look at the Quranic terminology for money and for the currencies that were used.

It's such a profound language, Arabic. Look at what words the Arabs and Allah used to describe money and also look at the words Allah used to describe charity. Arabic we firmly believe as Muslims, this is a theological point, that Arabic is the most eloquent of all languages. This is a point that I say is actually a point of theology, that Allah has spoken the Quran in Arabic, our Prophet spoke Arabic, that is enough of a sharaf and an izzah for the Arabic language. So Arabic is the most eloquent of all tongues.

What words are used to describe money? Compare this and see for yourself the profundity of the language.

Gold and Silver in Arabic

Gold and silver. By the way gold, the English term gold, it comes from the ancient Gothic of dull yellow. Gold actually means dull yellow and so gold is called gold because it's dull yellow. Not very profound but that's what gold is called. Gold is called gold because it has a dullish yellowish color.

What is gold called in Arabic? All of you should know. (ذَهَبٌ - dhahab), right? And (ذَهَبَ - dhahaba) as we all know is the most common Arabic verb that we start studying Arabic grammar with. (ذَهَبَ عُمَرُ، ذَهَبَ زَيْدٌ، ذَهَبَ - dhahaba 'umar, dhahaba zayd, dhahaba) means to go away. And the word gold comes from the verb (ذَهَبَ - dhahaba) to go away because by its very nature gold comes and goes. (يَذْهَبُ ذَهَبٌ - yadhhabu dhahabun). Gold comes and goes. It doesn't remain with you. That's why it leaves you so fast.

So for example, what is silver in Arabic? (فِضَّةٌ - fiddah). And what is the word (فِضَّةٌ - fiddah) come from? (انْفِضَّةٌ - infiddah). And (انْفِضَّةٌ - infiddah) means to break up and disperse. Allah says in the Quran that when they see some group coming (انْفَضُّوا - infaddu) - They will go and disperse, disperse away from you. That the Prophet is being told that when some money is being distributed the hypocrites will disperse away from you. (انْفَضُّوا - infaddu)

So (فِضَّةٌ - fiddah) comes from the same to just break up and disperse away. Because whenever you have money, you have a hundred dollars, what's gonna happen? You will break it up into 10s and 5s and 15s and 20s and give it away. This is (انْفِضَّةٌ - infiddah) to break up and split.

So (فِضَّةٌ - fiddah) silver comes from (انْفِضَّةٌ - infiddah). The word for money, (مَالٌ - mal), right? (مَالٌ - mal), the word for money, the Arabic (مَالٌ - mal) means to lean towards. This is (مَالٌ - mal), to lean towards. To lean towards. And why is money come from (مَالٌ - mal)? Because the heart leans towards it. The soul is eager to get it. (يَمِيلُ مَالٌ - yameelu malun). The heart (يَمِيلُ - yameelu). It leans towards that wealth.

The English word wealth by the way, where does it come from? Wealth actually comes from the same root as well-being which is happiness. So Middle English, Ancient English, they literally thought money will give you happiness. And so wealth comes from health and wealth. Wealth here was happiness. The same root we get well, well-being, well. Are you well? Well and wealth come from the same root. So wealth according to Middle English was that which makes you happy. That's why it's called wealth in English.

The Arabs understood money doesn't make you happy. The nafs (يَمِيلُ - yameelu). It is wanting to get it but it doesn't make you happy.

Quranic Vocabulary for Charity

So when the Quran came down, a new vocabulary was invented for giving charity. These words that Allah used, they don't exist, they didn't exist in pre-Islamic Arabia. The words that Allah used for charity are unique. Allah Azzawajal invented Arabic words to indicate charity.

And look at the profundity of all of these words. What's the most common word for charity in the Quran? Quickly. Sadaqa and Zakah. The two most, both of you are right. Sadaqa and Zakah.