We seek refuge in God. Let us not fear man and ensure that our debts and taxes are never missed, nor do we ever forget God for His small kindnesses to His creatures!

Answer to the global economic injustice—zakat invested

I have seen foundations making zakat disbursement work for qualified organizations that are doing needed and successful community work. We have to not only give handouts but also ensure that there is a viable system to enhance our economics. The movements to end poverty may be overly ambitious, but their efforts are surely worth emulation. One such movement is at www.makepoverty-history.ca.

The philosophy behind this has many dimensions. Islam considers rich people’s properties not absolutely theirs. Unless they pay the rights of the poor, zakat, they are considered transgressors. Zakat is also a yearly reminder that what we earn and what we have is not really ours. It is a gift from God.

The reward is such that an entire economic system rests on it — balancing the haves and have-nots with modest cognizance of one another’s rights and natures—not like the monsters that consume everything in the name of globalization or the selfish who relegate us to food stamps in the name of anti-capitalism.

God has blighted usury and made almsgiving fruitful. (2:276)

Sadaqa is for everyone. During Ramadan, for example, Muslims may send Ramadan hampers to local food banks. Hunger has no religion.
Zakat was originally a tax on possessions with the proceeds going mostly to aid the poor (though the money might also be spent for other purposes, such as ransoming captives of war). The word, however, now more commonly refers to almsgiving. Are we aware of our own local needs before we trolley off huge sums to favorite  faraway spots?

According to the 2000 Canadian Census, there are 320,000 registered Muslims in Ontario, 100,000 of whom live under conditions considered to be below the poverty line. Assuming that 60,000 Muslims are in a position to pay zakat, there remain a marked number of needy individuals within the community who would qualify to receive zakat.

If zakat and its charitable obligation are unique to Islam, then we have to make it equally unique to today’s world.

United Way is, like many sister organizations, the apple of the eye when it comes to emptying our pockets on images of desperate faces — whether by corporate fundraising or media hype. The organization is indeed truly blessed in helping a variety of needs faced by this rich world. Then how come our collections are still struggling with paper clutter and moving red boxes? Think professional but be sincere, and God will make it happen.

Charity is best when given voluntarily

Although in the past Islamic States would have organized their collection and disbursement, today, in the absence of such ideal situations (and allowing that some spurious organizations send their administrative overheads sky high, forgetting the real needy), we should revamp our efforts to see that zakat carries with it the true emblem of voluntary philanthropy.

Say: “My Lord hath commanded justice; and that ye set your whole selves (to Him) at every time and place of prayer, and call upon Him, making your devotion sincere as in His sight: such as He created you in the beginning, so shall ye return.” (7:29)

It is nearly impossible for every individual, from the filthy rich to the common man, to pay zakat in the prescribed way and for it to reach the deserving people. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Muslims would be falling below the poverty line every day.

Economics professor Timur Kuran takes full advantage of our flip-flop approach toward Islam. He writes in his book Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism” (2004): The system has 1 million beneficiaries, which represent about 10 percent of the Pakistanis situated below the country’s poverty line. An official report notes in this connection that in its eight years of operation, Pakistan’s state-administered zakat system has had little visible impact on inequality. There has been no noticeable decline, it says, in the number of beggars and no discernible alleviation of poverty. Under the circumstances, people are losing faith not only in the system, but also in the belief that Islam offers a better economic order.

Philanthropy of the pious is never discriminatory

The Caliph ‘Umar, on seeing an old Jew begging, brought him to his house. He gave him some cash and told the treasury officer that such people who could not earn their living should be granted stipends from the public treasury. Once, seeing some non-Muslim lepers on his way back from a journey, he issued orders that they should be provided maintenance from state funds.