Zakah
The third obligation is zakah. Every
Muslim whose financial condition is above a certain specified minimum must pay
annually 2.5 percent of his or her cash balance to a deserving fellow being. This
is the minimum. The more you pay, the greater the reward that God shall bestow
on you.
The money that we pay as zakah is not
something God needs or receives. He is above any want and need. He, in His
benign mercy, promises us rewards manifold if we help our brethren. But there
is one basic condition for being thus rewarded. And it is this: that when we
pay in the name of God, we shall not expect nor demand any worldly gains from
the beneficiaries nor aim at making our names as philanthropists.
Zakah is as basic to Islam as other forms
of worship: salah (prayers) and saum (fasting). The fundamental
importance of zakah lies in the fact that it fosters in us the qualities
of sacrifice and rids us of selfishness and plutolatry. Islam accepts within
its fold only those who are ready to give away in God’s way from their hard
earned wealth willingly and without any temporal or personal gain. It has
nothing to do with misers. A true Muslim will, when the call comes, sacrifice
all his belongings in the way of God, for zakah has already trained him
for such sacrifice.
There are immense gains to the society in the
institution of zakah. It is the bounden duty of every well-to-do Muslim
to help his lowly placed poor brethren. His wealth is not to be spent solely
for his own comfort and luxury, as there are rightful claimants on his wealth,
and they are the nation’s widows and orphans; the poor and the invalid; and
those who have ability but lack the means by which they could seek useful
employment; those who have the faculties and brilliance but not the money with
which they could acquire knowledge and become useful members of the community.
He who does not recognize the right on his wealth of such members of his own
community is indeed cruel. For there could be no greater cruelty than to fill
one’s own coffers while thousands die of hunger or suffer the agonies of
unemployment. Islam is a sworn enemy of such selfishness, greed, and
acquisitiveness. People not ingrained with these morals, devoid of sentiments
of universal love, know only to preserve wealth and to add to it by lending it
out on interest. Islam’s teachings are the very antithesis of this attitude. Here
one shares one’s wealth with others and helps them stand on their own legs and
become productive members of the society.
Hajj
Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, is the fourth
basic act of worship. It is obligatory once in a lifetime only for those who
can afford it. When Muslims undertake the pilgrimage, they are required to
suppress our passions, refrain from bloodshed, and be pure in word and deed. God
promises rewards for our sincerity and submissiveness.
The Hajj is, in a way, the biggest of all acts
of worship. This is so because unless people really loved God, then they would
never undertake such a long journey, leaving all their near and dear ones
behind them. It may seem easy now with the appearance of airplanes and
vehicles, but imagine in the past when Muslims had to take a long arduous
journey, facing fatigue, hunger and death, often taking more than a year!
This pilgrimage is unlike any other journey. Here,
pilgrims’ thoughts are concentrated on God, their very beings vibrate with the
spirit of intense devotion. When they reach the holy places, they find the
atmosphere laden with piety and godliness; they visit places which bear witness
to the glory of Islam, and all this leaves an indelible impression on their
minds, which they carry to their last breath.
In addition, there are in Hajj, as in any other
act of worship, many benefits that Muslims can gain. Mecca is the center
towards which the Muslims must converge once a year and discuss topics of
common interest. Hajj refreshes in them the faith that all Muslims are equal
and deserve the love and sympathy irrespective of their geographical or
cultural origin. Thus, Hajj unites Muslims from around the world into one
international brotherhood.
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