He told the zakat collectors that they should not give an...

He told the zakat collectors that they should not give an impression to persons that they were not trusted. The collectors were also asked not to demand any particular animal from the flocks towards settlement of the zakat . It was always the discretion of the assessed to part with whatever he deemed fit to be given as the zakat . But the people were asked not to give lame, sickly and emaciated animals towards the zakat .

`Ali (a.s) also instructed his men to take proper care of the animals that came in their charge as a settlement of zakat . He asked them not to bring them through ways that had no possibility of getting fodder and water for long spells. He asked them to keep the she camels and their young ones together. They were also asked not take all the milk from the mother that the little ones suffered want of feed.

These steps of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) indicate that he was not in favor of force or coercion in the matter of zakat . In fact, he wanted to create the right spirit in the minds of the people to come forward voluntarily that they fulfill this mandatory duty of theirs. Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) used the zakat money only on heads that have been prescribed in the Holy Qur’an and never mixed it in the funds for other requirements of the State. Previous…