Overview
Zakat is an act of worship and a means of purifying one’s wealth.
It is the giving of 2.5% of your annual wealth to charity. It is one of the five pillars of Islam and its compulsory for all eligible Muslims.
Aims
- Dual purification meaning it purifies us from attachment to material wealth, miserliness, greed and love of this world and in doing so we grow and develop the human soul.
- Eradication of poverty in society.
- Economic empowerment of deprived communities
- Socio-economic hustice as zakat is not a voluntary act of piety to help the poor and need but rather a religious obligation on some and right of others.
How much is Zakat?
Every Muslim who is sane, has reached an age of maturity and has above the minimum required amount of wealth (Nisab) is required to pay Zakat.
Zakat is 2.5% of a person’s total cumulative wealth in one lunar year. The Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before they become eligible to pay Zakat.
This amount is often referred to as the Nisab threshold.
Gold and silver are the two values used to calculate the Nisab threshold. The Nisab is the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver.
Case Study
Yemen
Thanks to your kind donations and continuous support we were able to distribute much needed zakat to the destitute people of Yemen.
The area of Taiz has seen continuous fighting and it is the innocent civilians that suffer the most. We were able to get into the area with our longstanding partners who have been on the ground since before the conflict began, and distribute life saving food which was enough to feed almost 1000 individuals.
We helped 200 families living in the worst conditions with children suffering from acute malnutrition and provide them with culturally sensitive food packs that fed them for over a month. Each packed contained rice, pasta, oil, sugar, flour amongst other vital essentials.
When a person has either become extremely weak due to old age, or they are suffering from an illness which prevents them from fasting, they are required to pay Fidyah (if they have the means). This payment is used to feed a person in need two meals for the entire month. We recommend a donation of $5 per missed fast.
Those who break or miss a fast intentionally and without a valid reason must fast for 60 consecutive days. If they are unable to do so, they must pay Kaffarah (expiation) for every missed fast. Kaffarah is used to feed 60 needy people two meals.
