Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Al-Tawbah (Repentance)
Chapter 9: Verse 60

Who to Give Zakah?
"As-Sadaqat (here it means Zakat) are only for the Fuqara and Al-Masakin and those employed to collect the (funds); and to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (towards Islam); and to free the captives; and for those in debt; and for Allah's Cause, and for the wayfarer; a duty imposed by Allah. And Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise."

The Quran describes eight categories of people who are to receive Zakah. Ahmad Sakr elaborated on these categories:

1. The poor (Fuqara)-this refers to someone who has no income

2. The needy (Masakin)-this is someone who for instance, may have a job, a house and a car, but their income is below the minimum requirement.

3. Employees of the Zakah. This category is sub-divided into the following:

a. the group of people who are social services workers who go into the community to evaluate who is Faqeer and Miskeen.
b. those who collect the Zakah money
c. the accountant of the Zakah money
d. investors who increase the share of the Zakah
e. the clerical worker or secretary who puts the files in order
f. those who will deliver Zakah to the ones who need it
g. the outside auditor.

4. Sympathizers

These are those people who might enter or who have already entered Islam. Anyone we feel are good friends or ours (non-Muslim or new Muslims) we give them a gift from the Zakah money.

5. To free slaves

Riqab is the term used to describe the group of people who are slaves. The Zakah money is used to free the slaves. Sakr stresses that Islam did not invent slavery, but it gradually abolished it.

6. For the Gharimeen-those who are in debt

Zakah money is used to pay off debts but these people are not living in luxury, they are living a normal life. For example, someone who has gone bankrupt because of job loss and is overloaded with debt.

7. Fee Sabeelillah (for the Cause of Allah)

This can be anything for the love of Allah. Sakr gave the following examples:

a. for the employment of a Daiyah, Imam, or religious teachers to do Dawa
b. building Islamic schools
c. building Muslim clinics and hospitals
d. providing money to young men who want to marry but cannot afford Mahr
e. to assist poor travelers
f. to establish water springs on streets for those walking or travelers
(please note, these last three things were done by Khalifa Umar ibn Abdul Aziz)
g. to defend Muslims who are under attack
h. For television, radio or newspaper project aimed at doing Dawa
i. to help someone publish a book for Dawa
j. to pay for the studies of a student..

8. Ibn as Sabeel

This refers to a traveler, for instance who has lost his wallet and has to get back to his home.

Sakr stresses that this has to be verified to see if this person is really telling the truth, since there has been at least one case of a man claiming to be a lost traveler in North America who has stolen thousands from Muslims claiming to be a traveler of this type.

Compiled From:
"Frequently Asked Questions about Zakat" - SoundVision.com

From Issue: 545 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Moderation

One of the manifestations of extremism is an obsessive pursuit of fault-finding in others and making exacting demands of them. The Prophet, peace be upon him, condemned this in a hadith when he urged the Muslims to 'Avoid extremism (al-ghuluw), for people before you were led to destruction because of extremism in religion.' [Musnad ibn Hanbal] In another hadith, the Prophet rigorously spoke against the extremists when he said: 'Perished are the hair-splitters, perished are the hair-splitters, perished are the hair-splitters.' [Muslim]

When two of the Prophet's leading Companions, Muadh bin Jabal and Abu Musa al-Ashari were leaving as judges to the Yemen, the Prophet instructed them to:

"Be gentle to the people and avoid harshness to them; bring them good news and scare them not [with gloomy predicaments]." [Muslim]

With regard to the implementation of penalties, the Prophet instructed the judges and rulers to 'Suspend prescribed punishment (hudud) as far as you can. For it is better to err in forgiveness than making an error in punishment.' [Abu Yusuf]

Compiled From:
"Shariah Law - An Introduction" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 292, 293

From Issue: 551 [Read original issue]

Blindspot!

Faith Needs Art

Everywhere, in all cultures and civilizations, from the oldest to the most modern, the arts have always expressed and conveyed humankind's common aspiration to remain upstanding, to try to understand, and to tell the meaning of their lives, of their sufferings, of their loves, and of their deaths. Those works are invaluably rich and the various societies' cultural heritages must be studied from within. All that a culture produces is not always satisfactory from an artistic or ethical standpoint and it is important to adopt a critical approach that manages to be both inclusive and selective. Innumerable works produced by non-Muslim cultures and artists by no means contradict Islam's ethical goals: those varied forms of art, literature, or music must, in the name of universality of principles, be integrated into the shared cultural and artistic heritage of societies and, more generally, of humankind.

There are higher ethical goals in art, as in any other human activity. Preserving the common good, dignity, and welfare is, of course essential, as is the importance of dignity, creativity, and diversity. In addition to celebrating those higher goals, it should be possible to discuss tensions, doubts, grief, and suffering, not to nurture them morbidly but to come to terms with them in a quest for balance, peace, contemplation, and sincerity that can never be fully achieved.

The Universe of art is a Universe of questions rather than answers, and it should not be reduced to conveying only religious answers. Artistic expression precedes such answers and the accompanying norms: it seeks to reach and convey the essence of emotion and meaning, and any attempt seeking to reduce it to a strictly religious or Islamic message would naturally leave people unsatisfied. Art asks questions, faith supplies answers: it is important for faith to allow the heart a space where it can express with freedom and dignity its simple, human, painful questions, which may not always be beautiful but are never absolutely ugly. Moreover, faith needs it, for such a experience enables it to gain depth, substance, and intensity.

Compiled From:
"Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation" - Tariq Ramadan, p. 202

From Issue: 700 [Read original issue]