Monday 16 December 2013

GIVING ALMS (ZAKAT)



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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