Ramadan & Zakah By Yaqeen Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander

Ramadan (lit. Scorching heat), the ninth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar, is considered to be the most sacred and glorious month in Islam. Muslims around the world hold this Holy month in reverence and fast throughout it from dawn to dusk. Ramadan is considered a very virtuous month in Islam wherein the rewards for good deeds get multiplied manifold and bad deeds are forgiven. As a result the onset of Ramadan encourages people to get actively involved in performing good deeds and getting closer to Allah. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time... [Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah] In another hadith, the Messenger of Allah (SAW) is reported to have said: (It is) a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers [Narrated by Tabarani] So as such it is the global practice of Muslims to pay their Zakah in the month of Ramadan to attain most blessings. Zakah constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam. It is compulsory for every adult, mentally stable, free, and financially able Muslim, male and female, to pay it to specific categories of people as mentioned in the Quran: "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." (The Holy Qur'an 9:60) The word Zakah in Arabic means purification. In other words, Zakah purifies the wealth and gives us a feeling of empathy towards the poor and a sense that Allah is the Ultimate Giver. It is a means to exhibit that the wealth is a favour of Allah upon us and we have to use it for the common good of all. Islam does allow private ownership and enterprise but it doesnt allow the concentration of wealth in a few hands. Islam is very concerned about the economic disparities found in our society

and has thus has devised this method of Zakah to maintain an economic balance within the society. The importance of Zakah is so much that Allah made it the twin-sister of Salah and, therefore, after the command of Salah, the obligation of Zakah follows: "And We made them leaders of men. They guided the people according to Our command, and We inspired in them the doing of good deeds and right establishment of Salah and giving of Zakat and they were worshippers of Us." (AlQur'an 21:73) "He enjoined upon his people Salah and Zakat and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord." (Al-Qur'an 19:55) But looking specifically at our society, we find scores of people who are downtrodden and the ongoing conflict has added more to their lot of miseries. Kashmir has a Muslim majority but we dont have proper institutions to channelize the Zakah money so that it could be evenly distributed among the various lessprivileged sections of the society. We have a large number of orphans, widows, halfwidows, and other deserving strata of society which are in need of charity to sustain. We do have good organizations working for these causes but their work will yield a much better fruit if they work in unison and maintain cohesion by devising a unified system of Zakah just like the concept of Bayt ul Maal where money is collected and then distributed evenly. The civil societies, NGOs, orphanages and various organizations should join hands together and take this common initiative whereby people can use a common platform and get their amount of Zakah calculated under the supervision of scholars and pay it accordingly. Afterwards, a survey to identify the deserving people and categories as mentioned by the Quran shall be conducted and then money should be accordingly distributed amongst them proportionately. The money can also be used to develop business opportunities and ventures which can later on self-sustain. This will avoid the confusion and uncertainty among the people of where and how to invest the Zakah money and will also surely lead to slow but steady upliftment of our less privileged class. This is just a small proposal and outline and much needs to be done in this regard to make this dream come true and to see our society reaping multifold benefits from this plan.

(The Author is an undergrad student majoring in Psychology at International Islamic University, Malaysia. He can be reached at www.yaqeenulhaq.com or can be mailed at yaqeen@ymail.com )