POVERTY AND ISLAM

by
Shahirah Elaiza Hassan
Interfaith Dialogue
26 July 2010

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "Wealth never decreases

because of charity." (Hadith Muslim No. 2588).

During last year’s Interfaith Dialogue I was sitting somewhere at the back of the hall and
I overheard 2 people behind me speaking. One of them said, “Oh look this should be
interesting.” Then the other said, “Yeahh… but I don’t know. Even the word religion
makes me go ughh.”

God and faith are commonly perceived as irrelevant in people’s lives these days and I
wish that they weren’t. I wish people would just realise that faith has a lot to do with why
we’re here today. In fact, in Islam we believe it has everything to do with our purpose in
life.

As a Muslim, I believe my purpose on Earth is to worship and please my Creator and

there are many ways of doing that.

The 5 pillars of Islam – the fundamentals of our faith – states the main acts worship that
are required of Muslims.
1. Testifying that none is worthy of worship except the one and only Allah (God in
Arabic) and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is His Messenger.
2. Establishing prayers.
3. Alms giving or giving charity. This is called the Zakat.
4. Fasting in the month of Ramadhan
5. Performing the Hajj pilgrimage (if one is able)

Do you know what this means? Muslims actually have the privilege of helping others as
an act of worship.

Allah Almighty says:"We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of
the world, and raised some of them above others in rank that some of them may
take labor from others."(Holy Qur’an, 43:32)

See when Allah swt created the Universe He had a plan for everything, for each and
every one of us and how amazing is it that part of that plan is for those who are fortunate
to help the ones who are less fortunate. So this is where faith and Islam comes into the
picture in regards to alleviating poverty. The act of giving charity and alms giving known
as ‘zakat’ is what Islam prescribes in effort to help those who are in need.
In Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah swt says:

“O you who believe! Give from the good things which you have earned
(honourably) and of the fruits of the Earth which We have produced for you.”
(Holy Qur’an, 2:266)

“Truly those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish regular prayers
and regular charity they will have the reward with their Lord: on
them shall be no fear and they shall not grieve” (Holy Qur’an, 2:276)

So what is ‘Zakat’? It is a combination of charity and tax which is collected and

distributed amongst the poor in the community. When a Muslim pays Zakat he or she is
giving 2.5 % of what he or she has saved in a year. It is not only in the form of monetary
wealth as there are rules on how to pay Zakat on each type of possessions, such as
gold, animals, crops, shares and so on. Note that the Zakat is taken from the excess
wealth of a person - wealth that has accumulated and has been in their possession for
over a year. It is not paid on income. Therefore, people who haven’t been able to save
anything after covering their expenses with their income do not pay Zakat, and in fact
may be eligible to receive it.

The Zakat is to be distributed amongst people of 8 categories:

1) The Destitute: Those who don't have material possessions or means of livelihood.

2) The Poor: Those with insufficient means of livelihood to meet basic needs.

3) The Indebted: Those who are in debt and have difficulty repaying it.

4) Stranded Traveller: The traveller who does not have enough money to complete their
journey.

5) Slaves: Zakat money is to be used to purchase slaves and free them.

6) New Muslims: Those who are new to Islam and require help to integrate themselves
into the Muslim community.

7) Anyone or anything who works In the Path of God: Zakat money can also be spent in
the path of God. This can include many things, basically any project that helps Muslims
or Islamic causes.

8) Zakat Workers: Those whose job it is to collect and re-distribute Zakat money get their
salary from the Zakat money.

(Sourced from http://www.al-islami.com/islam/islam_solves_poverty.php)

The world is looking for a solution to reduce poverty and it’s staring us right in our faces.
If everyone who had the means were to give away 2.5% of their savings every year that
would mean almost USD $700 billion would go towards helping the poor annually. That’s
less than the amount former US President George W. Bush spent on the Iraq War. Now
isn’t that something to think about?

I’ve mentioned the material benefits of giving charity and paying the Zakat. What about
its spiritual benefits?

Spiritually, the beauty of the Zakat system is that it not only helps those who are on
receiving end but also those who are giving. In the Arabic language, the meaning of the
word Zakat is two-fold – it means to purify and to grow, therefore Islam teaches us that
when we give and help sincerely, God will reward us by purifying our souls and our lives
and helping us to grow as a person. That’s what we really want… to grow and develop
throughout life and to be cleansed off our sins so we can attain Paradise. In other words,
it’s a win – win situation. Islam not only encourages us to help others and but to help
ourselves.

So he who gives in charity and fears (Allah), and in all sincerity accepts and
follows the best, We will Indeed make smooth for him the path to happiness.
(Holy Qur’an, 92: 5-10)

In conclusion, charity is not only limited to giving away money or material wealth. The
Prophet peace be upon him used to say:

"On every bone of the fingers charity is incumbent every day: One assists a man
in riding his beast or in lifting his provisions to the back of the animal, this is
charity; and a good word and every step which one takes in walking over to prayer
is charity; and showing the way (to another) is charity."
(Hadith Bukhari 56:72)

Therefore any effort to help others is a form of charity. Even a smile is an act of charity.

Islam doesn’t only address people’s financial difficulties as it recognises that there are
social and psychological consequences that are part and parcel of being poor –
consequences such as illiteracy, starvation and frustration. Therefore, Allah swt rewards
those who help people in whatever way they can.

Charity is not meant to be a burden but rather a means of uniting people together
towards a good cause. It’s about pleasing our Creator but also preserving humanity at
the same time.

More details on the Zakat alms-giving system can be found on:

http://www.hidaya.org/publications/zakat-information/16.0-how-is-zakat-to-be-
distributed.html

Visit this website for some interesting facts about poverty:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats