Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam walaykum brother,

What is the meaning of Zakaat? What is the rate at which it should be paid? Is the rate different for salaried people and business people?

When to pay Zakaat & whom to pay?

If the people who are buried under the graves can't hear our prayers then how come all the Moujizas takes place. Like in Burhanpur & Galiyakot even non Muslims come there to take the evil spirit out of them. 

Is dividend taking also haraam. Dividend is declared out of the profits of the company.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Miracles at graves

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your question: What is the meaning of Zakaat?

The literal meaning of the Arabic word ‘zakaah’ means ‘to purify’. And when used in the Islamic sense, ‘zakaat’ means to pay an obligatory charity-tax, a percentage of the net worth of a person in the way of Allah, to purify the rest of his wealth.

Your question: What is the rate at which it should be paid?

The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded that this obligatory charity tax be paid at a rate of 1/40^th or 2.5% of the net worth of the individual. There are other rates for farming the land, whereby the people who irrigate the land naturally have to pay 10% of the produce, and the people who artificially irrigate their land, have to pay 5% of the produce of the land.

Your question: Is the rate different for salaried people and business people?

No. The zakaat is not paid on the income, but rather the net worth of the person. Thus, whatever is the net worth of the person, whether he be salaried or a businessman, the rate is fixed at 2.5% minimum per annum. If he pays more than that for the pleasure of Allah, it will be counted as ‘sadaqa’ or non-obligatory charity, which will earn him even more ajr and reward from Allah Subhanah.

Your question: When to pay Zakaat & whom to pay?

Zakaah can be paid at anytime of the year, and is only due after the asset/assets have been in the possession of the person for a period of one year. Most believers prefer to pay the zakaat dues in the Holy Month of Ramadan, so that they may attain more ajr and reward from the Generous Lord. But if the zakaah amount is significant, and the person cannot take out the money from his business or self, then he can always pay it in installments during the year, or at any time of the year.

Allah has laid down the following eight ‘hadds’ of where zakaah can be paid:

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 60: Zakat Collections are for the needy, and the indigent, and for those who are employed to collect them, and for those whose hearts are to be won over, and for the ransoming of slaves, and for helping the debtors, and the way of Allah, and for the hospitality of the way-farers.

The above are the different ways of paying the zakaah or obligatory charity as commanded by Allah:

The needy

The indigent or poor

The people who are employed to collect zakaah. (This command is for the government agencies who would collect zakah in an Islamic State, that they could pay the salaries of the people who are employed to collect the zakah from the citizens of this state.)

Those whose hearts are to be won over. (For daawah or propagation of Islam, etc.)

For the ransoming of slaves

For helping the debtors

For the hospitality of people who are traveling and are facing financial difficulty for some reason.

And, the Way of Allah. (anything one spends to gain the pleasure of Allah will be considered in ‘The Way of Allah’)

Thus zakaah dues may be paid to any of the above criteria. The only place one cannot spend zakaah money is to support his own family, or on people under his/her responsibility, or to build a mosque, which should be done with one’s own pure wealth.

Your question: If the people who are buried under the graves can't hear our prayers then how come all the Moujizas takes place. Like in Burhanpur & Galiyakot even non Muslims come there to take the evil spirit out of them.

One thing is for sure, that the ones who are dead cannot hear our prayers or call… because that is clearly declared by Allah Subhanah in His Holy Quran… and the Glorious Quran can never be wrong or challenged.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 35 Surah Fatir verse 22:And the dead and the living are not alike! Allah causes whomever He wills to hear, but you cannot make those who are buried in the graves to hear you.

I too have personally seen these so-called ‘moujizaas’ at the mazaars in places like Burhanpur and Galiyakot in my days of ignorance, where a person who is supposedly possessed, talks to himself, and a crowd gathers around him and they assume that the ones in the grave for hundreds of years are somehow trying to take out his evil spirit, etc.!!! Brother, in light of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), there is just absolutely no way for either the dead in the grave to talk to those who are alive, and neither do the people who are alive have the power to ever talk to those who are dead! Thus, these are nothing but fraudulent schemes some unscrupulous people have invented and played to an audience, and have absolutely no basis and authority from the Glorious Quran or Sunnah of the Messenger (saws)! These sort of things also happen in the temples of the Hindus, Budhists, etc. and they too gather around the person who starts speaking to himself in a dual correspondence! These incidents are nothing but frauds, and have absolutely no relation with reality.

Your question: Is dividend taking also haraam. Dividend is declared out of the profits of the company.

The act of taking ‘dividend’ itself is not haraam, provided that the company giving the dividend has earned the money in a legal and halaal manner. Thus, if there is a pharmaceutical company, which declares a dividend, it would be halaal; but if a bank or alcohol company declares a dividend, it would be haraam. It all depends on what is the source of the income of the company declaring the dividends. If a company is in a legal or halaal business, there is absolutely no harm in taking dividends from such a company.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan