091 Question One

One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to Allah, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust.

The word Zakat means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need.

Zakat is the amount of money that every adult, mentally stable, free, and financially able Muslim, male and female, has to pay to support specific categories people, if they possess more than the Nisab.

This category of people is defined in surah at-Taubah (9) verse 60: "The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and (for) the wayfarers; a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is knower, Wise." (Surah At-Taubah 9: 60).


The obligatory nature of Zakat is firmly established in the Qur'an, the Sunnah (or hadith), and the consensus of the companions and the Muslim scholar and Zakat is one of the five Pillars of Islam.