Khutba on Zakat, the Missing Component

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي حفِظ سنةَ حبيبِه بالفقهاء العاملين، والشيوخِ العارفين، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدٌى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

This great deen of ours, as we all know, is built upon pillars. It is those pillars that hold it up and enable it to stand the test of time, those pillars that give it reality and substance. Indeed, those pillars are Islam, for when the Prophet was asked by Jibril what Islam was, he replied,

الإسلام أن تشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله، وتقيم الصلاة وتؤتي الزكاة، وتصوم رمضان، وتحج البيت إن استطعت إليه سبيلا

“Islam is to bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish the prayer, pay the zakat, fast Ramadan and make Hajj to the House if you are able to do so.” Every single one of us without exception makes a contract with our Lord to fulfil these five things – it is by putting them into practice that we become Muslim. In a version of the Jibril hadith transmitted by Muslim, Jibril says, after the Prophet describes Islam thus,

فَإِنْ فَعَلْتُ هَذَا فَأَنَا مُسْلِمٌ، قَالَ نَعَمْ

“If I do this, then I am a Muslim?” And the Prophet replied, “Yes.” So, for us to truly be Muslims, we must make sure these pillars are in order. If they are, then we have a right to that description, if not then we do not. This applies at a personal, but also at a communal level, for each of these pillars has an aspect of both. The shahada must be witnessed to be valid and binding, the prayer must be established, not just done, and that implies mosques, public adhans and congregations. And the fast of Ramadan begins with a confirmed sighting of the moon which is then transmitted to the people through their leadership. And as for hajj, although it is the most personal and individual journey anyone can make, it is also the biggest gathering of humankind in any one place at any one time. It is as communal an event as they come. All of these pillars, despite the disputes over the sighting of the moon, ostensibly appear to largely be in order. All Muslims say the shahada, and there are more mosques than ever in the world. And they are clearly well-attended as this Jumua demonstrates. And there have never been more people trying each year to go on the Hajj. And as for Ramadan, it is rare indeed to find a Muslim that does not fast. Indeed, there are more who fast than pray.
So from this, it would appear that the deen is in fine fettle and good health. But you will have noticed that I only mentioned four pillars here, and that one of them is missing. That pillar is zakat. Many will think that it too is in fine health, with dozens of zakat organisations collecting and distributing, and meeting our zakat needs. But they would be wrong. True zakat is not just lacking in the present, it is almost completely missing. And that stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes zakat.
For many, zakat is simply another form of giving, of charity, only differing from sadaqa in that it is obligatory instead of voluntary, and that is shown from the most common English translation for zakat – alms. And that is shown from the collection forms that are sent out by charity organisations, listing zakat alongside voluntary sadaqa in their options on how to give. But that is not what zakat is, as we will make clear in due course.
Many consider zakat to not really be that important. If a Muslim does not pay zakat, they shrug, but if he fails to pray or fast, then that is considered to be a big deal. This is due to their perception of Islam as a religion, and their fundamental separation of ibadat and muamalat. Because zakat on the surface does not appear to be an act of worship in the same way as prayer, fasting or hajj, it is not afforded the same degree of importance, Firstly, zakat is an ibadat, it is a right due to Allah. You do not only worship with your words and your bodily movements, you also worship with your wealth and possessions. Allah says,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ

the translation of which is, “Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their wealth in return for the Garden.” Both our bodies and our wealth can be the cause of our entering the Garden, and not just in the context of jihad. And secondly, there is no separation between ibadat and muamalat. They are each as much a fundamental part of our deen as the other. The word deen is better translated as life-transaction than religion. Just because modernity has drummed it into us that Islam is a religion, something added to our lives to make them more worthwhile and complete, does not make it so. For proof, one has but to look to the Book of Allah and see the preponderance of ayas dealing with muamalat, dealing with such matters as inheritance, trade and debt. To see how frequently Allah mentions zakat. Indeed, it is mentioned on almost three dozen occasions, and on almost every occasion it is paired with prayer, the imad of the deen, the central support of Islam. For example, Allah says,

وَمَا أُمِرُواْ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدّينَ حُنَفَاء وَيُقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُواْ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَذَلِكَ دِينُ ٱلقَيّمَةِ

the translation of which is, “They were only ordered to worship Allah, making their deen sincerely His as people of pure natural belief, and to establish the prayer and pay zakat – that is the correct deen.” This constant pairing of prayer and zakat throughout the Book of Allah is interpreted by many of the mufassirin as meaning that the two acts are inextricably linked, that the acceptability of one hinges upon the acceptability of the other. Ibn Abbas said,

ثلاثة لا تقبل إلا بثلاثة، قال تعالى: وَأَطِيعُواْ اللهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ، فمن أطاع الله ولم يطع الرسول لم يقبل الله طاعته، وقال: أَنُ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ، فمن شكر لله ولم يشكر لوالديه لا يقبل الله شكره، وقال: وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ الزَّكَاةَ، فمن أقام الصلاة ولم يؤت الزكاة لا تقبل له صلاة

“There are three things that are not accepted until three other things are in place: Allah says, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger’, so if anyone obeys Allah without obeying the Messenger, Allah will not accept his obedience; Allah says, ‘Thank Me and thank your parents’, so if anyone thanks Allah without thanking his parents, Allah will not accept his thanks; and Allah says, ‘Establish the prayer and pay the zakat’, so if anyone establishes the prayer without paying the zakat (that he owes), Allah will not accept his prayer.” This is a huge deal, for the first thing our Lord looks at is our prayer, and if that is not acceptable, then nothing else is even looked at. And its acceptability is contingent upon zakat, so you would be a fool to neglect it.
Many people are neglectful about their zakat due to a fear of poverty and loss of provision. They are already paying a lot in taxes and bills and consider zakat to be an extra tax piled on top of the others. That betrays their lack of understanding of zakat, and their lack of understanding of their own wealth and where it comes from. They consider their wealth their own, their right, he fruits of their considerable labour, and so begrudge anything that is taken from it. They forget that it all belongs to Allah, and every part of it is His by right should He so wish it and command it. Allah says,

وَلَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الاَرْضِ

the translation of which is, “Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him.” But despite it all belonging to Him, He only demands of you the smallest portion, one fortieth, two and a half percent, and only demands it if your standing wealth, wealth that has remained with you unspent for a full year, surpasses a certain minimum threshold, twenty dinars or eighty-five grams in the case of gold. And the taking of this wealth does not diminish you or what is in your hands, but instead increases you. It purifies it hence the name zakat. It is like your wealth is a rough diamond and zakat cuts and polishes it until it becomes a lustrous stone that is actually worth something. The Prophet said,

مَا نَقَصَ مَالُ عَبْدٍ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ

“A person’s wealth has never been decreased by sadaqa (i.e. zakat).” On the contrary, it becomes filled with baraka and increase, unlike money which is invested usuriously. Allah says,

يَمْحَقُ اللَّهُ الرِّبَا وَيُرْبِي الصَّدَقَاتِ

the translation of which is, “Allah obliterates riba but makes sadaqa grow in value!” And that is because usury encourages hoarding and stagnation while zakat encourages movement and spending. And it is only when wealth moves and circulates throughout a society that it has a positive and healthy effect. If it is all gathered in one place or only circulated among a tiny segment of the population, then the rest of society withers up and dies and society collapses, as we are witnessing in the present day. And when that happens, there will not be winners and losers, there will just be losers. Their usurious wealth will not protect or insulate them, it will simply vanish away, given that it has no real substance or reality. As it is money created out of nothing, it will disappear back into nothing, It will be obliterated. Their wealth in this world will be gone and they will have no stores of wealth in the Next, while those who paid zakat will keep what they had in this world and have storehouses of wealth in the Next. And their communities and societies will be protected and insulated against the storms that are to come. We ask Allah to make our community one such community, and place us at the forefront of restoring zakat to its rightful place, thereby rebuilding the edifice of Islam.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.

As I mentioned in the first khutba, the most common misconception about zakat is that is simply another form of giving, albeit an obligatory one, as is shown by the every increasing numbers of charity organisations who ask us to donate our zakat to them. And that it is left to the conscience of the individual whether he pays it or not. While it is true that zakat is an individual act of worship in the sense that it is a duty on every Muslim person who has the requisite level of wealth, it is at the same time a function of amirate, it is at the same time inextricably linked to governance. People are not trusted to pay it themselves, it is taken from them. In surat at-Tawba, Allah says,

خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَا

the translation of which is, “Take sadaqa from their wealth to purify and cleanse them.” According to the mufassirun, the word sadaqa in this aya refers specifically to zakat, and the Prophet is being addressed in his capacity as leader of the Muslims, not in his capacity as Messenger. So this instruction is directed at every Muslim leader. This was the understanding of Sayyidina Abu Bakr, and so when the tribes who had paid zakat to the Prophet refused to pay it to him, he said, 

والله لأقاتلن من فرق بين الصلاة والزكاة فإن الزكاة حق المال والله لو منعوني عناقاً كانوا يؤدونها إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لقاتلتهم على منعها

“By Allah, I will fight anyone who makes a distinction between the prayer and zakat. Zakat is the right which is due on wealth. By Allah, if they refuse me even so much as a young billy goat they used to pay to the Messenger of Allah, I will fight them for it!” He recognised, even when others did not, how fundamental zakat was to the welfare of the Muslim umma, and was prepared to put everything on the line to ensure its survival in its correct form. He did not simply leave it up to their conscience, he insisted on them giving it directly to him and his representatives. And that is the reality of zakat, it is taken and distributed by the authorities, not given and distributed by individuals. This was the understanding of the great men of this umma and is the position of all four of the madhhabs.  Imam Ahmad said, “The khalifa alone has the authority and responsibility to collect and distribute zakat, whether by himself or through those he appoints, and he has the authority and responsibility to fight those who refuse to pay it.”
And it applies just as much to hidden wealth, in other words money, as to apparent wealth, namely crops and livestock, as is proven by the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab, 

خُذ من المسلمين من أربعين درهما درهما…

“Take from the Muslims out of every forty dirhams one dirham.” He commands his zakat collectors to ‘take’ people’s money from them. The only time you are permitted to distribute zakat yourself is when the leadership is unjust and cannot be trusted. If the leadership has a fair system of collection and distribution, then whatever you distribute yourself before it has been taken is disregarded and considered to be nothing more than voluntary sadaqa. Your zakat is still owing, as has been made clear by the great Hanafi faqih, Ibn Sahl as-Sarakhsi.
So an essential aspect of zakat can only be fulfilled with amirate. Without amirate, it is only a shell of what it could be. It ceases to be that social galvanising and adhesive force, strengthening the leadership and enriching the poor, and instead becomes just one more form of charity. And because, in this age of lack of leadership, so few have the time or inclination to distribute it themselves, it gives rise to charity organisations. But such organisations make a mockery of zakat and fail to meet many of its basic requirements and conditions. 
Firstly, they represent no leadership and do not themselves fall into any of the eight categories, even that of zakat collector since that is an appointed position, and so have no right to take any zakat from anyone. Therefore, they are misappropriating the funds of well-intentioned Muslims and preventing them from fulfilling their obligation correctly.
Secondly, even were we to say these organisations had the right to collect zakat, they do not properly fulfil its conditions in its distribution. Zakat must first be distributed locally before being sent abroad, but too often they send it all abroad and neglect those who live locally. Zakat must be distributed immediately or as soon as possible, but they put checks and measures in place that make that nigh on impossible. People in desperate need, unable to even put food on their own tables, are required to wait months for to be cleared and declared eligible. And sometimes those checks have no basis in the Shar’. For example, a man recently came to me and told me he had approached a local zakat organisation for help, and they had demanded of him, amongst other things, his and his wife’s bank records. But according to the deen of Allah, even were his wife to be the wealthiest woman in the world, that would have no bearing on his own claim. She is not required to give him any of her wealth. 
Zakat must only be distributed to the eight categories mentioned in the Quran – it must be given to them directly and not used on their behalf, but often these organisations use it to pay for a person’s education or build a well to give clean water to needy communities. These may be praiseworthy aims, but they are not valid uses for zakat. And that is to say nothing of the huge proportion of what is given that is absorbed by these organisation’s bloated infrastructures. The zakat you pay may end up paying for an office building or a secretary’s salary rather than helping those for whom it is intended.
As long as such organisations exist and abuse their positions thus, zakat will never be properly established. Instead, a proper structure of leadership must be restored, and that leadership must be entrusted with the reins of zakat, both its collection and distribution. Then, and only then, will the deen once again be whole and its house fully supported. We ask Allah to give us the success to do that and empower our communities by restoring their heads.

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ، وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى. 

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.