Zakat - Purifying Your Wealth, Helping Those in Need

It is obligatory for a person who has the nisab amount of wealth (80.18 g of gold) to pay zakat after one year has passed. Every Muslim who owns this nisab amount of gold, or cash or trade goods of this value, in addition to his basic needs and debts, is obliged to pay zakat once a year. There is no specific time limit for giving zakat. When it becomes obligatory, it must be given immediately without waiting. Since Ramadan is a month of solidarity and solidarity, it is preferably given during Ramadan.

Giving zakat has many virtues in our religion. Some of the virtues of giving zakat are as follows:

The Pleasure of Allah: Zakat means that a Muslim spends a certain percentage of his/her wealth in the way of Allah (swt). This is considered to be an expression of obedience and to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt).

Ensuring Social Justice: Zakat contributes to the economic balance between the rich and the poor. It helps to strengthen social justice and strengthens the sense of solidarity in communities living together.

Personal Purification: Giving zakat helps individuals purify their material assets and move away from selfishness. By sharing some of his/her wealth with those in need, the individual increases his/her peace of mind.

Helping the Needy: Zakat is a form of aid directed directly to the poor and needy. This helps to support weak and needy individuals in society.

Social Solidarity: Zakat strengthens the culture of solidarity and cooperation among Muslim communities. The economically strong among Muslims support each other by directing their zakat to the weaker members of their community.

Giving zakat is an important part of a Muslim’s worship of Allah (swt), an important act of worship in terms of managing his/her material assets properly and improving himself/herself in ensuring justice in society.

Zakat on the produce of the land is called ‘eshür’, which means one tenth in Arabic. It is an obligation to pay one out of every ten crops, which is established by verse, hadith and ijma.
The verse reads: “O you who believe! Spend out of what you have earned and from the clean (lawful) of what we have brought forth for you from the earth. And do not attempt to give the evil of what you are not the recipient of without closing your eyes. And know that Allah is the Giver and the Praised.” (Surat al-Baqarah, verse 267)

If the land is irrigated by rain, streams or rivers, one tenth of the crop is to be given as kharif. If it is irrigated with purchased water or water that is carried by animals, which means long and laborious and costly, if it is irrigated by these means for the whole year or more than half of the year, then one-twentieth of the produce is to be given as kharif.