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Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, replied: 'Pay zakah out of your property, for truly it is a purifier which purifies
you, and be kind to your relatives, and acknowledge the rights of the poor, neighbors, and beggars'."
It was reported from 'Aishah that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, said: "I swear upon three things: Allah
does not equate one who has a portion in Islam with one who does not. The portions of Islam are three: prayer, fasting,
and zakah. If Allah takes care of a man in this world, He will take care of him on the Day of Judgment. If a man likes a
group of people, Allah will certainly include him among them. As for the fourth, if I swear on it, I hope I will not commit a
sin: that if Allah conceals a man's sin in this world, He will certainly not expose him on the Day of Judgment."
At-Tabarani relates in al-'Awsat, that Jabir reported: "A man said: 'O Messenger of Allah! What will be the gains for a man
who pays zakah on his assets?' The Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, said: 'For one who pays zakah on his
asssets, he will be removed from the evil in them'."
On the same subject, al-Bukhari and Muslim relate that Jabir ibn 'Abdullah reported: "I gave my allegience to the
Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, that I will establish salah (prayers) and zakah, and I will give advice to every
Muslim."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 3.59
The Recipients of Zakah
There are eight categories of the beneficiaries of zakah which Allah specifies in the Qur'an: "The alms are only for the poor
and the needy, for those who collect them, for those whose hearts are to be reconciled, for the freedom of those who are
captives and in debt, for the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarers; [it is] a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is the Knower, the
Wise" [at-Taubah 60]. Ziyad ibn alHarith as-Suda'i reported: "I came to the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, and
pledged allegience to him. Then a man came and said to the Messenger: 'Give me some of the collected sadaqah.' The
Messenger replied: 'Allah did not leave the matter of sadaqat to be decided by a prophet nor to others ... He Himself
classified it into eight categories. If you fit into any of these categories, I will give you your due.' " It was narrated by Abu
Dawud although in its chain of transmission there is 'Abdurrahman al-'Afriqi, who is of questionable merits.
The following is an elaboration upon the preceding eight categories:
1. The Poor (al-Fuqara').
2. The Needy (al-Masakin): The needy, along with the poor mentioned above, are those who do not even have basic
needs fulfilled. This categroy parallels the category of the rich who have all they need. As mentioned elsewhere, a person
is considered rich if he possesses the nisab--that is, an arnount in excess of his essential needs or those of his children
with regard to food, drink, clothing, housing, animals, tools of his trade, and similar other necessities. Thus, one who lacks
all these is considered poor (fuqura') and qualifies for zakah.
A hadith attributed to Mu'adh instructs: "Take from the rich [that is those who are self-sufficient] and give to their poor."
Thus, zakah should be taken from the rich who own a nisab and given to those who are not so fortunate.
No difference has been made here between the poor (fuqura') and the needy (nasakin) as far as their needs, their poverty,
and their qualification for receiving zakah are concerned. The two are brought together in the preceding Qur'anic 'ayah
with the necessary conjunction so that they could be differentiated from each other. This does not contradict our
categorizing the masakin as a subgroup of the fuqura'. In the following hadith, the text indicates that the needy are the
poor who are not noticed by the people because they abstain from begging. The Qur'an takes note of them because they,
perhaps due to their modesty, go unnoticed.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, said: "The needy person (miskin) is not one
who goes around asking the people for a date or two, or for a mouthful or two, but the one who is too embarrassed to ask.
Read if you wish: 'They do not beg from men importunately' [alBaqarah 273]." In a variant of this report, it is related: "The
needy person is not one who goes around asking people for a mouthful or two or a date or two, but the one who has not
enough [money] to satisfy his needs and whose condition is not known to others. Thus, sadaqah is given to him and he
does not beg from the people." This is narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 3.70
Sadaqah for the Wayfarer
Scholars agree that a traveler stranded in a foreign land should be given zakah if he lacks the means to achieve his
objectives. The extension of zakah is, however, tied to the condition that the journey must have been undertaken for
Islamically acceptable reasons. Just what such a trip involves is open to question. The preferable opinion among the
Shaf'iyyah is that sadaqah is given even when the traveler is taking the trip for sightseeing and pleasure. The wayfarer (ibn
as-sabil), according to the Shaf'iyyah, is of two kinds:
1. a person traveling within his own country, and
2. one traveling in a foreign country. Both of them are entitled to zakah, even though they could find someone to lend
them the needed amount and they have enough resources in their own country to pay their debts. According to Malik and
Ahmad, only the passer-by is eligible for zakah and not one traveling within his own country. Zakah is not to be given to
the person if he can find someone to lend him the money he needs and if he has enough of his own money in his country
to pay his debt.
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