In an Islamic framework, and also in the entire Muslim history, zakat played a very important and decisive role in shaping the economic system, as zakat is rightly placed in terms of significance and fulfilment, just very next to obligatory prayers. The importance of it further fortified by the early Caliphs (RA), by waging war on non-givers, or who misunderstood its importance. To these Caliphs (RA), haqqul ibad, that is the rights of others, is more important than haqqullah, the connection with his Lord. The reason is, if one forgets, or evades the prayer, he will be answerable to his Lord, and his Lord might in certain cases, forgive him, but Lord clarified in clear terms, that he may not be in a position to forgive if the rights of others are not entirely fulfilled.
A person may get forgiveness for not performing his duty to his Lord, and that depends on his connection with his Lord, but how being just, He (the Lord) can forgive a person who ignores the rights of others? The Prophet (PBUH) clearly illuminated, and the rightful Caliphs (RA) emphasized (what Quran has clearly mentioned in numerous verses) that, in our wealth, the society has a real and tangible stake, and if the owner does not fulfil his duty, i.e., if he does not share a rightful and ethical portion of his wealth to assist the poor and needy, then his entire effort to please God remains unadorned and daunted, and he will not get God's mercy, no matter how hard he bribes through supplication or prayers. The Lord has said, in many verses of the Quran, if a person wants to be pure, he must share his wealth; otherwise, his wealth will testify against him in the Day of Judgment.
In addition, the torture may start in the very grave, as Prophet (PBUH) has duly forewarned and elaborated. If now, a very intelligent and honest person thinks that, what he honestly earns - belongs to him, entirely, then that very person is unfortunately utterly wrong. Lord further clarified, the eight rightful recipients, who has clear share, in his stake. And these distinguished receivers must never be left out at any minute cost. They are - the poor, the needy, the indebted one, the traveller who is in trouble, the newly converted or reverted one back to the belief, the person who is dedicatedly struggling to establish justice and peace, and who is in bondage, and finally, Lord has also clarified that the administrator (the Amil) of zakat has a due share in it so as to perform it with dignity and courage.
Here one might recollect that just not the needy and poor ones are mentioned, but the entire creed, who might require assistance - and has been clearly identified and mentioned in the Quran and further highlighted in different sayings of the beloved Prophet (PBUH). So to get His divine blessings, if one prays day and night, one will not get that proximity to the Lord, until one fulfils what has been evidently asked to do and that is to recompense the right amount, or even more to the eight different recipients just mentioned above. To pay more is encouraged, but nothing less. Therefore, any person who has earnings, or wealth, must calculate himself how much to pay, because this wealth will testify against him when the accountability will start, soon after his mortal departure.
Lord said that to be close to him, we need to be giving, rather doing, or undertaking real giving, from our wealth. Just giving the right amount is never enough, as more we give, more we will receive from Him (the Lord) as we will become even purer than before. So we can't be calculative while giving, but ensure we give more than asked or required, just to be in a safer side.
This is the part of giving. Now the real and complicated part starts - the art of effective and just dissemination. However, this job is even simpler. Because, the administrator, who is officially paid one-eighth, must ensure a fair and square effort in his delivery to the eight recipients. Otherwise, he will be subjected to divine repulsion. And if the justice and fairness is not maintained (as that's the case in most distributive networks so far as we have seen unfortunately), his disobedience is a matter of grave concern and will be judged soon by Him (The Lord) consequently. No one can ignore the divine ordinances.
Therefore, the equation becomes simple and flawless. What is received, must be circulated fairly, and with apt action. However, how that effective part is well-administered, is the most difficult part until today. Moreover, the main concern is how to ensure effective giving, and maximize utilization of distributive resources. And it requires huge talent, proper brain work, and true courage to do job correctly and with prudence. It requires proper knowledge as well as wisdom, bit of piety, sincerity, honesty, and trustworthiness, and above all - to be bold, proactive, and rigorously progressive.
The question remains, if the base of the giver is bigger than the base of receiver, then the issue of intelligence with prudence might never be required. But if the base of the receiver is quite substantive compared to the base of the giver, then we require wise and thoughtful dissemination, and careful breakthrough in administering this holy job.
The present Muslim world is an incidence where the base of have-nots is extremely big enough, so the job of Amil (the administrator) requires extreme astuteness and sincerity. The base of the receiving end is extremely big compared to the giving end. It is not the fault of the receiver, but the givers are truly accountable and are extremely in a very advantageous position (though) in monetary terms, but are in serious position in terms of God's level of acceptability and as well as in terms of piety. However, the recent efforts by Muslim nations to expand the level of contribution through setting up numerous zakat and sadaqt institutions, but the receiving ends are still at the doldrums. In addition, to make things worse, the job of the administrators has become gigantic and overwhelming. Here we should remember, the era of two rightful Cailphs (Omar 1 and Omar 2) (RA), during which it was hard to find any recipients, because of fair and square in allocation and pious administration. It was a highly commendable attainment, and requires further thorough research and investigation.
Now, what is required is to expand the distributive cake (D cake). So the D cake has to be distributed in such a way that all the recipients are happy and it fulfils God's stated conditions. Now, how that can be achieved remains a task to be seen. Now with vigilance, if the D cake can be enlarged, it will be a great news indeed. The task is simple. We need two ways to achieve that. A very certain portion has to be earmarked for regenerative purposes, and the rest can be given wisely to all the remaining recipients. This earmarked portion, must be given to wise and sincere asnaf (the receiver), i.e., who understands why they have been chosen, as they are required to be contributors in the nearest future and must appreciate these holy messages. They must understand the meaning of helping the society, and how to assist other asnafs (the receivers), so to make them equally out of this poverty bottlenecks. So these chosen ones, must be compensated enough, to make them out of poverty, and soon they are required to contribute and assist the society. This is like creating more helping hands at the hour of need. A condition can be attached, before giving a large sum, i.e., to ensure that they share with other asnafs once their stake becomes better. Accountability and sincerity has to be ingrained in the entire effort. They will be giver as they will be helping the D cake become larger and as time goes by. If the effort is multiplied, then this multiplier will soon boost the economy, and the battle of winning poverty will be achieved at a much faster and cherished rate. If ten can assist other ten, then it will be twenty, and if these twenty can be out of the trap, and help other fifty, and then one hundred and fifty, and so on, and it will just multiply based on honest dispersion and comprehension.
This achievement will make - all of us happy and cheerful. Here we need to address six issues. We need a clean and clear SOP (standard operating procedure) on distribution. Secondly, we need extreme decency, righteousness and farsightedness. Thirdly, we need to identify who are asnafs (the receivers), capable of understanding the task of D cake expansion. We require them, to be a good contributor to the system, and not asking for help in the near future, after we have made them self-reliant. Of course some will always remain at the receiving end, because of health or due to other shortcomings.
Nevertheless, the task of the D cake amplification will make the mission of poverty reduction a matter of truest achievement. And that will ease the burden on society considerably. Fourthly, Islam discourages hoarding, and Lord has clearly mentioned against it, in strongest terms. Any money or wealth, even if, it belongs to orphans, must be in circulation, so as to generate profit. Because, idle money is subjected to punitive tax, such as zakat, and if this idle money not invested, in twelve years, it may lose one-fourth of its portion due to this punitive zakat tax. The reason for such injunctions is to induce growth in the economy, and bring a net impact on bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Therefore, the Quranic order requires fullest collection, fairest apportioning, and to boost economic growth based on justice and sincerity. Quantum zakat fund in Bangladesh is doing just that. They are doing and performing the tasks at the sincerest level, and many asnafs are benefiting. But that's not enough. We all need to play our part, if we at all fear the danger of accountability in the near future when we will be asked in front of our Lord Almighty on our judgments. We must understand the Quranic injunctions for our own safety and must fulfil what the Lord has asked us and shown us through his eternal wisdom and guidance.
Fifthly, the marginal propensity to consume of the poor is high. Every penny they receive, will be most likely consumed, so any injection in the economy through the proper distribution of zakat will revive the economy and will bring huge benefit. Therefore, if these Quranic guidelines are very judiciously followed, it will lead to easing any adverse economic impact and bring out an economy from a recessionary mode.
Sixthly, many scholars in this area agree that some portion can be retained for education and other developmental purposes, if it benefits the eight stated recipients. May Lord grant us guidance, piety, and the will so that we can uplift our nation and hence through proper implementation, we can remove all bottlenecks from the society.
May Allah bless and guide us all. Ameen.
Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah. Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
The writer is a Ph D candidate, Kolej Universiti Insaniah, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia.
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