Jumu-ah Mubaarak to all my friends out there. may this blessed day bring all acceptance for all your duas and Ibaadaat and fasting. may you be filled with joy happiness and tranquility Aameen. my message to you for today.... ZAKAAH Ramadaan is once again here. Before it passes, let us take a look at the past year and all our aspirations that we had. We started out with the most noble of intentions and after the last month of Ramadaan we silently looked at ourselves and recognised all our weaknesses and shortcomings. This introspection led us to make intentions that we hoped we would achieve before this new Ramadaan. Have we remained true to ourselves and how much have we done for ourselves? On the other hand we are at times quite bothered while fasting. What bothers us; we don’t know. We give reason to these bothersome feelings but the underlying fact is that many people wish that the month would end before it starts, or at least many wish that they did not need to fast at all! We lie to ourselves and say that the days’ fasting was good while we suffered terribly. We are afraid to acknowledge our weaknesses by lying about our truths. We are afraid to say that the day went slowly and that we found fasting to be a very trying time. When are we going to realise that together with being a month of fasting, Ramadaan is a month of test. Our Imaan is tested around every corner. Our sincerity is tested every day. Our devotion is tested and our characters are all tested every day of this Blessed month. Its blessing is born from the fact that we are determined to endure all the trials of Ramadaan JUST for the sake of Allah! Thus let these trials strengthen your resolve and Imaan and do not allow Shaytaan to contaminate your endurance with lethargy and negativity. Fasting is NOT you, YOU ARE FASTING!!! Our brain and hearts are not situated in our stomachs; therefore do not let your stomach decide the mood of your days. Zakaah is another factor that has become the order of the days of Ramadaan. Many people even Ulama believe that Zakaah in Ramadaan is more meritorious than outside of Ramadaan. This is a fallacy that is so closely believed that every form of argument is created to substantiate this lie. Yes, the performance of a fardh in the month of Ramadaan is multiplied by seventy. However, zakaah is most meritorious when it accessible to people when they need it! It is also of such a nature that confining it to Ramadaan causes businesses and individuals great harm and irritation over and above the fact that they are fasting and generally not in a good mood. Large influxes of collectors target these businesses so much that these otherwise kind and good-natured givers become sour victims. Due to the large amount of zakaah that these individuals need to dispose of in a short period of time, Shaytaan gains a clear opportunity to deceive them by making them feel that there is a great decrease in their wealth. Zakaah does NOT belong to them, Shaytaan tricks them in thinking so. In reality, as long as zakaah remains in the keep of he who is liable for zakaah, the longer their own wealth is contaminated. While zakaah is in the pocket (bank) it is “Auwsaag” (filth.) Filth only has one effect, it dirties everything it touches. By keeping zakaah in the account, keeps filth in it allowing it to contaminate the entire wealth. For example; a person has zakaah funds in his account and says that he will wait for Ramadaan to distribute it. During these months he enters into various financial ventures and the banks take the entire balance into account in order to approve these ventures. Also the person sees this entire balance as his own property. In reality, that percentage of the account that is zakaah already belongs to the poor and destitute by the command of Allah and his decision to delay the zakaah until Ramadaan does not make that 2.5% his property. Thus an equal percentage (2.5%) of the profits would actually belong to the poor. Fatwa givers opine that it still belongs to the person until it is distributed. This is quite wrong. Zakaah belongs to the poor as and when Allah commands. Allah has commanded that when a year passes over unused wealth then 2.5% thereof immediately belongs to the poor and needy. The moment that zakaah becomes available in your account it must be disposed of to prevent cross contamination of your wealth. It is strange that these very people are particular about contamination of foodstuff yet they do not care about the contamination of wealth that mostly procures foods. Another important fact is the vicious lie that zakaah is “PAID OR GIVEN”. Zakaah is neither paid nor is it given away! The Shariah requires compulsorily that when you pay you MUST get something of that value in return. On the other hand, the Shariah forbids one to give away that which does not belong to you. When giving, then that which you give MUST belong to you otherwise you would be guilty of a crime for which there is retribution on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement Day). Zakaah is NOT a charity!!! One may feel good and may even expect a return of the favour if he had made a charitable donation. However this is HARAAM in the case of zakaah. ZAKAAH IS A TRUST THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OBLIGATE THOSE WHOM IT BELONGS TO WHEN YOU RETURN THEIR HAQQ TO THEM. YOU ALSO DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO RESTRICT AND DENY A PERSON IN NEED OF ZAKAAH FROM GAINING ACCESS TO ZAKAAH!!! Allah has provided rules about Zakaah, the rules that man has developed around it may not override the Law of Allah. Mass enslavement via parcels and the like, has become the order of the day in our societies. Bodies have taken responsibility to amass Zakaah on behalf of the people, thus they become financial magnets while the people who truly need it are kept poor and begging. These authorities periodically change their “profiles” and they believe via fatwas given to them by pleasure seeking fatwa mongers, that they are correct in their actions even though these changes essentially serve to deprive those in need and fatten the so-called custodians. Restricting Zakaah to Ramadaan makes one ask; “Are people in need in Ramadaan only, or do they have greater needs at other times during the year?” When Zakaah is the wealth and the Haqq of the poor why do the wealthy rule over it with iron fists. When the Holy Nabi Muhammad appointed a person to oversee and protect the Zakaah, he chose a poor Sahaabi to do so. One may ask “why?” the answer is clear. The wealthy do not necessarily know the plight of the poor thus procrastination in assisting would not seem to be a major factor. Whereas a poor person knows the plight of those like him, and would thus give freely and unconditionally especially since he knows that Zakaah wealth is that which Allah has reserved for them. Thus he would not fear depleting it since Allah would most definitely replenish their reserves as soon as it is finished. This is not so when zakaah is restricted to Ramadaan! Zakaah throughout the year makes more sense and makes it accessible and available whole year. What about the lillah that remains in these accounts, unused for the entire year? Do they hand over its Zakaah? Can they hand it over to themselves? I have heard of managers who say to the employees, “take this money and then give it back to me!” with this act they believe that the money is no longer zakaah but a donation given to them thus they keep on swindling money from the mouths of the poor with baatil fatwas such as these. On the other hand a person of wealth would tend to treat zakaah funds with the same care that he looks after his own wealth. This would also cause them to give more to their own, than to those who are truly in need, as is the case of their personal wealth. They give thousands to their children and undeserving family members who waste it on frivolous pursuits, while the poor are scorned and deprived of their correct rations when they ask for it. This brings me to my final warning with regards to Zakaah. What is the true purpose of Zakaah? Was Zakaah instituted to enslave people, making them dependent upon small parcels whilst authority and compulsion is held over them like a sword? What do you mean you ask? Well look at the Glorious Quran. See when does it mostly demands that we feed the poor. Feeding of the poor is mostly required as a penalty for one not having done a compulsory act or for our failure to comply with some or other command. On the other hand the Sunnah of our Nabi Muhammad shows that when Zakaah was given then the people were empowered by it. EMPOWERMENT IS THE OPERATIVE WORD HERE! People MUST be empowered by their receipt of Zakaah. The object is to raise people out of their lethargy and the doldrums of poverty by enabling them to become dignified members of society as opposed to people who would constantly wait for hand-outs as if they are beggars, robbing them of their human dignity and their sense of independence. Education, business and every form of empowering the people must be the force behind Zakaah. No person may feel obligated to any individual or authoritative body due to the Zakaah that they had received. In fact it is their right to seek Zakaah that would give them an opportunity to uplift and empower them. Daily, weekly, monthly enslavement via parcels and the like, that comes with threats of obedience to the giver as opposed to the obedience of Allah, are all against the grain of Islam since Islam forbids begging and condemns every system that enforces these debilitating and disgracing qualities.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 08:37:36 +0000
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