GIVING ALMS (ZAKAT)
Q. What is the correct method to give alms?
Give the alms that falls due from you to
a needy person for Al-lah and make him the owner of it. Giving Zakat towards
the wages or in return for someone’s services is not allowed. Nevertheless, it
is permissible to buy something out of the money to be given in Zakat and
distribute it among the poor and the needy.
It may be noted that payment
of wages out of the Zakat money to the person appointed to raise Zakat
collections is permissible.
Q. When must one pay the Zakat?
Whenever one full year from the lunar
calendar has elapsed on the almsworthy capital, Zakat must be paid. Delay is
not desirable.
Q. Is it permissible for a person to pay
Zakat before a full year has passed?
Yes, it is permissible if the person
concerned who owns the almsworthy capital pays the Zakat before a full year has
elapsed.
Q. Is it necessary to pay the Zakat with the
express intention to do it?
Yes, it is necessary to have the
intention to pay the Zakat while giving it or at least to earmark the portion
for it. No Zakat shall be deemed to have been paid if the money is given to
someone without intention to pay the Zakat and later to decide to count it as
such.
Q. Is it necessary to disclose to the person
we choose to give Zakat that it is Zakat money he is receiving?
No, it is not necessary. It is allowed
even if we give the Zakat money to someone under the pretext of a reward or tip
on a festival to poor children.
Q. What will be the position of a man who
had seen one full year pass over his almsworthy capital and had not paid Zakat
before the capital somehow got sunk or wasted?
The Zakat due on him stands condoned.
Q. What will be the position of a person who
has given away his entire capital to the poor for Al-lah’s sake after the lapse
of one year?
His Zakat dues also stand settled.
Q. What will be the position of a person
whose capital stands partly sunk or wasted or who gave it in charity after the
passage of one full year?
Zakat in respect of the capital wasted or
given in charity also stands condoned. Dues for the rest must be paid now.
Q. What should be the measure (weight or
value) if one wishes to pay in kind Zakat for the silver under his ownership?
Weight should be the standard. For
example, if a person has one hundred silver coins, he has the option either to
pay two rupees and a half or to give 1/40th part of the weight. But
if the 1/40th part is worth Rs.2/- only, the value in this case will
not be standard for payment of Zakat.
Q. Can a person who has the prescribed
quantity of silver pay the Zakat in terms of its value in forms other than the
metal in question?
Yes, anything of the value of the silver
that has become due for Zakat (e.g. cloth, food grain) can be given for alms.
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