Second...

Second: The fashion and condition of this good work: It should not be followed by reproach and injury. Third: The quality of the wealth to be spent: It must be lawful and good, not unlawful or worthless. Fourth: The qualification of the receivers: It should be given to those poor who are besieged in the way of Allah. Fifth: The rewards of such spending in this world and in the next.

**SPENDING IN THE WAY OF ALLAH ** One of the two pillars of Islam is the Rights of the people; and spending for the welfare of the people is one of the things to which Islam pays the utmost attention.

It exhorts a believer to spend for this purpose, and has laid down the rules and opened up the ways for such spending - some of these ways are obligatory and others highly recommended: zakat, khums (the one-fifth tax), penalties to expiate certain illegalities, various types of redemption, obligatory spending and recommended charities. Then there are laws to establish and regulate endowments, settle­ments for residence, or for life, wills, gifts and many similar things.

All this has been done to improve the living standards of the poor classes - the people who cannot meet their expenses without help from others. The intention of Islam is to raise their level to bring them nearer to the people of means. On the other hand, it has strictly forbidden the rich people from pompous living and showing off their wealth.

It has allowed them to live in a reasonable and honorable manner; but has prohibited extravagance and the squandering of wealth in a lavish style which is above the reach of the average person. The aim of both sets of rules was to create a community life that would be neither too low nor too high, whose various groups would be nearer to each other, and would have a fairly uniform standard of life.

Such a society would give life to the institution of unity and cooperation; and would eradicate conflicting designs and uproot enmity and antagonism. The Qur’an holds that the true religion must organize life in all its multifarious activities, putting it in order in such a way that man’s bliss is guaranteed in this life as well as in the next one.

Such a religion will bless man with true knowledge, noble character and pleasant life; he will be free in this life to enjoy the bounties given to him by Allah, and to remove from himself unpleasant things and all types of misfortune.