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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Correspondence Course (book 3) Lesson 31 : Islamic Economic System (2) 1. Importance of Zakat “Zakat” literally means “purity; justness; integrity and honesty”. In Islamic legal terminology, the word “zakat” is used for one of the main obligatory taxes imposed upon the wealth of the Muslims derived from the natural resources given to them by Allah.

Its literal meaning implies that by paying zakat, one is purifying his wealth by sharing God’s blessing with the less fortunate members of the ummah. The wealth of the person who does not pay zakat is impure and tainted with the share of the poor and the needy. One of the ways by which we describe the value of a seemingly simple thing is by comparing it to an item well known for its value.

In the Qur’an, Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, also uses this method of emphasizing certain Islamic values: whenever He wants to show the importance of an issue, He combines it with something whose importance is well known to the Muslims. Salat, the symbol of Allah’s right upon human beings, is a well known virtue in Islam; it is known as “the pillar of the religion”. Similarly, Allah has used zakat as the symbol of the rights of human beings upon each other.

In order to show the importance of fulfilling the rights of fellow human beings, in many verses, Allah has combined the order of salat with the order of paying zakat. All items of zakat are related to the natural resources of the earth. They are not the creation of man but blessings of Allah. So by paying zakat, we thank Allah by sharing His blessings with other human beings; and we also show our concern for the poor and the needy.

Imam ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) said, “Almighty Allah has made the zakat obligatory so that He may test the rich people and provide for the poor. If the people pay zakat from their wealth, no one would be poor any longer...” 2. Obligatory Zakat (A) SHARING THE NATURAL RESOURCES Zakat, according to the Shi’a school of thought, is limited to the following nine items: I. Coins: Gold Coins. 2. Silver Coins. II. Cattle: Goats and sheep. 4. Cows. Camels. III. Crops: Wheat. 7. Dates. Barley. 9. Raisins.

These are the nine items on which zakat is wajib. At this stage of our discussion, we will not go into details of the rules to explain how much becomes wajib on which item at what time. We shall only mention some details about zakat on crops.