Research Paper on "Alms Giving in Islam"

Research Paper 8 pages (2567 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Zakat to the Muslim is charity, but it is far more than that as the following essay shows. In reality, the principle of zakat can be split into two subunit, zakat maal and zakat fitrah. Each has its own laws. Each country gives zakat milaah and zakat fitrah in different ways and each individual also provides according to his or her particular means. Realms of theological study have been conducted on the nuances and minutiae of zakat. Little has been done on patterns of giving. It is patterns of giving that, I think, are fascinating and that can prove informative to countries and Islamic non-governmental or relief organizations that rely on zakat for their survival. Research has found that it generally seems to be the educated professional class that is the greatest provider (Public Interest Research Advocacy Center (PIRAC) (2005; online)), and therefore the intent of this essay is to study one such example from an educated class of academics in Indonesia, to assess patterns of zakat-contribution, and to conclude by stating contributions of such study and by theorizing possibilities for future research.

Zakat: an Introduction

Zakat is the third of the five pillars of Islamic constituents. Translated in English form as "alms-giving" or "charity', it is more than that. The word "zakat" in fact means "righteousness, "steadfastness', or "growth" indicating growth in purity of soul through integrity.

The Quran first mentions zakat in the following way:

And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends one of another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and they pay zakat, and they obey Allah and His messenger. On these Allah will have mercy. (Al-Qur'an, 9: 71)

Zakat is also the corollary of public welfare, albeit in a voluntary manner. Each and every upright Moslem should care about the growth and maintenance of his community and apportion part of his resources for its upkeep.

In this way, Zakat to Muslims is the case against capitalism and communism. Some theologians, such as Sayyid Qutb claim zakat to be superior to the Christian charity in that it refrains from exalting the giver whilst refraining from demeaning the recipient. Christianity confuses 'charity of alms' with the 'charity of spiritual love' (or agape) (Benthall, 1999, p.28). Some Christians therefore conflate the terms when giving charity (strictly alms-giving). Modern churches employ the term of 'Christian Stewardship' to return the practice to its historic roots, but strictly speaking the Muslim definition and tradition of zakat is closer to historical roots than the Christian one is. The Muslim believes that wealth belongs to Allah and that he is merely distributing it better when giving part of it so someone who needs it more than he.

Traditional readings of the Quran teach that only Muslims should be given zakat, but more recently, liberal interpretations of the Quran such as those by Sheikh Al-Khayat have argued that zakat should be given to the 'poor' regardless of nationality and race. Some Arab charities in Geneva are likewise extending their money to all non-Muslim communities in need (Benthall, 1999, p.36). Zakaat itself is, however, more complex. To understand it better and take greater advantage of the system, one has to realize that it is split into two categories -- zakat maal and zakat fitrah -- each of which has its particular rules.

Zakat maal and zakat fitraah

Zakat maal and zakat fitrah -- subunits of the overall system of zakat -- work according to the following principles:

1. Zakat fitrah -- is an obligation on each and every Muslim and occurs at the annual end of the Ramadan month of fasting. The individual donates the typical expenditure of his one-day meal to charity. This, according to Visser (2009) is representative of 2.5kg of his staple food or about $1.50.

2. Zakat maal -- is a tax of approximate 2.5% of an individual's income and is administered annually. The tax is appropriated according to the amount of one's earnings.

Zakat had been mandatory during the era of Mohammad and the four caliphs succeeding him. The rules and regulations for collection and appropriation of zakat was based on the Quran and on traditional wisdom. Zakat fitrah was levied annually during the end of Ramadan. It was equal to the monetary equivelant of the individual's staple food. The second kind of zakat -- zakat maal -- was a property tax which was due a donor when his income exceeded a certain threshold amount (Visser, 2007, p.48)

The Abbasid dynasty of the 10th century included zakat in its taxation system but political and cultural changes soon rendered zakat a voluntary institution. Colonialization brought collapse of the zakat system since Islamic countries came under foreign rule and zakat became a personal matter that was not demanded by Islamic governments. Instead, secular governments imposed secular forms of taxation. It is for this reason that contemporary Muslims are more aware of zakat fitrah than they are of zakat maal, nor that the property tax of zakat mal is religiously obligatory (Dean & Khan, 1997; p.194-195). Yet, zakat maal extends to all property from currency to agricultural products, to investments and all items of value (Wilson, 2004).

Although zakat maal collapsed as compulsory system due to colonialization, some contemporary Islamic countries, recognizing the potentialities of Zakat, have invigorated the practice and incorporated zakat as part of their taxation system. Benthall (1998, pp. 36-38), in fact, mentions some instances of charitable organizations established by these Islamic countries, such as Pakistan, who use zakat as basis and try to integrate it with their federal taxation system. In Jordan itself, zakat is voluntary but the government tries to encourage it by giving tax concessions. Nonetheless, as the following study points out, tax concessions may not indicate that the charitable proceeds wind up in Islamic institutions. Sometimes, they end up in entirely different hands.

Muslims pay zakat in two ways. Traditionally, and according to Quranic prescription, they give their zakat to the poor, or to charitable organizations, or to the mosques. Currently, some give directly to zakat foundations. People give for all sorts of reasons: some give because the state obligates them to; others give zakat because they feel guilty if they do not give a portion of their wealth to the needy (Salim, 2006, p.685). Most interesting of all is the finding by the Public Interest Research Advocacy Center (PIRAC) (2005; online) which estimated that the national zakat potential in Indonesia is 14 trillion rupiah; that around 84% of Indonesia Muslims are zakat payers and that those with higher education are the ones who are the most magnanimous givers, even thoguh zakat, in this country, is voluntary.

To figure out where professors and lecturers donated their zakat and other patterns of donating zakat on the part of professors and lecturers was the intent of. Lessy's (2010) study. His study is interesting in that it may provide us with an insight into the way educated and professional religious Muslims may apportion their zakat as well as showing whether patterns exist in the way that the different educated gender appropriate their money to charity.

Lessy's (2010) Study

In 2010, Lessy conducted a study in order to investigate whether association existed between frequent attendance to mosques and the amount of money given to zakat fitrah or maal. Lessy also wished to assess whether there were correlations between age, gender, level of income and amount of money given as zakat.

The study recruited 85 professors and lecturers (65% males, 93% married, the mean age 40 years old) who taught religious studies in an Islamic university in Indonesia. The researcher contacted the professors via their e-mail addresses listed on the university's site and after inquiring on their proficiency of English referred them to the survey (Survey Monkey) and asked them to complete it.

The questionnaire itself was comprised of 19 questions and consisted of two categories:

1. Category 1 - Questions 1 through 7 were demographic items that requested information regarding the respondent's gender, age, family size, marital status, income level, region of origin, and educational level.

2. Category 2 -- Questions 8 through 19 asked about mosque attendance, belief in zakat fitrah and maal, the amounts of zakat fitrah that professor paid during Ramadan, the methods of giving, the amount of zakat maal paid, the recipient of fitrah and maal, and the reasons for giving zakat fitrah and maal.

The questions were a combination of closed and open-ended items.

A pilot survey was conducted before the actual study in order to assess whether modifications should be implemented in the study. Four participants were randomly selected and the questionnaire sent electronically via the e-link of Survey Monkey to their personal e-mail addresses. Reminder e-mails were sent as follow-up to these addresses after the passage of one week. The study lasted 3-month (from January to March, 2010). All responses were stored in the Survey Monkey database system during the process of data collection. Data was checked via SPSS and incomplete surveys were exempted from… READ MORE

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