What's new Donate Contact Us Alim Mobile App

Zakah and Zakat al-Fitr

Date: May 20, 2020

We are in the blessed month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, extra prayers, and charity. Our Creator, Allah SWT, requires us to fulfill our obligation to (1) Him, the Lord of the universe, and (2) his creation, with humans being the most important of those creations. We can accomplish this by (1) worshipping Allah and (2) giving charity (both obligatory and voluntary). Both Zakah and Zakat al-Fitr are obligatory upon every Muslim who fulfills the requirements. Zakah means growth, increase and purification. It is a means of cleansing halal income and wealth. It is given once every year, at any time during the year and is required for every person who meets the Nisab. Giving Zakah is a form of worship and a good deed, for which the reward is greatly increased during this blessed month. For this reason, many Muslims prefer to give their required Zakah during Ramadan in order to maximize their rewards. Zakat al-Fitr (or fitrana) is a form of Zakah given during Ramadan to needy, poor, and destitute Muslims in order to give them the means to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. It must be in the hands of the recipient before Eid prayers in order to fulfill its purpose. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of their needs must pay zakat al-Fitr. The Alim Foundation Inc., NMS/NH: May 18, 2020

Precious Gifts a Person Leaves Behind

"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."

Sunan Ibn Mājah

Angelic Daily Prayers for Generosity

"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"

Sahih Bukhari

Related Blogs

The Beautiful Concept of Zakat

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The word Zakat means purification and growth. Quran promotes feeding hungry people and helping the poor. Since, the month of Ramadan is termed as the very month of forgiveness, blessings, helping others, prayers and thanks giving. Zakat is an activity connected with prayer and compassion towards the poor people. Allah says that provide Zakat with prayers and it will make you and the receiver blessed. Conditions for Zakat Giving If you are possessing property in excess of a minimum exemption limit, you must give Zakat to the needy. Another term is that if your wealth equal to or in surplus of Nisab in the beginning and at the end of the lunar year, you must give Zakat. At the same time, at the end of the lunar year if the wealth is less than the Nisab, it is not necessary to give Zakat. It says that Zakat is due on all the gold and silver ornaments, jewellery. All bank deposits and provident fund will fall under the Zakat giving. It is also said that if one has agriculture land irrigated by rain water or by natural water channels or if the land is wet due to a nearby water channel, the yield of the land must be provided as Zakat. Zakat is obligatory on goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes and camels which graze on wild grass, plant leaves and on some feed, now and then given by the owner, and on the above animals meant for sale. Do Not Give Zakat to these People * To a person who owns minimum 7 1/2 tolas of gold or 52 1/2 tolas of silver or equivalent wealth in cash, kind or in trade goods. * To one’s mother, father, paternal and maternal grand-parents, great grand-parents, etc. * To one’s offspring-sons, daughters, grand-children, great grand-children, etc. * to spouse * To other relatives such as brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. * To Sayyeds(descendants of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). * To domestic or other servants as wages. * Zakat cannot be given for repairing or maintenance of mosque. * Do not pay Zakat to meet the funeral expenses.

Motherhood and Anxieties: A Comment on Hitting

This is a blog by a mother about her child’s behaviour at school and her reply to the child to make him the best boy in the world. The incident was all about her child Gorgeous’ trouble making at school by hitting the toilet door while two boys were found together inside the toilet. She realized that best to steer or discipline my children when necessary using reasoning or by displaying anger in a non-violent manner, rather than by hitting. She says that hitting is not the most constructive way to parent and can lead to children expressing their own anger in inappropriate ways such as hitting others and not knowing how to express their frustration appropriately as adults. She also reminds that gentleness with children is part of the sunnah of our beloved Prophet. Now a days the news media channels are continuously streaming stories on child abuse related to sexting and pornography. The government indicates that the development of children is being impacted by an increasingly sexualised environment. Wiping out this bad environment is out of sight. But we can lead our kids in the protected environment with our guidance and affection. And this is a message to all the mothers in this world that moms are the best of their children so that they can share the things or events which hurt them from anywhere and she can cure their wounds of bad feelings.

Islamic knowledge

Search for any word, phrase, person, Hadith narrator, subject, or idea and acquire Islamic knowledge easily from the classical and most fundamental sources of Islamic knowledge. Coming soon: 1. Collaborative Editing, Comments, and Discussions on the Meaning of Al-Qur’an a. Comments feature with Alim online and facility of religious collaboration. b. Rating of authors and their works and online reputation building c. Ratings of comments and "most popular" type of rankings 2. Full Arabic Script Quran Recitation-Abdul Basit, English Recitation of Quran Translation, Surah Themes Arabic Recitation of Duas. 3. Questions & Answers: Q&A page called "Ask Alim.org" or something similar that allows questions to be posted and answered by anyone; people can rate questions and answers; similar to StackOverflow.com in ease of use and capabilities. 4. Enhanced Arabic Playhouse online. 5. Video Islam: A Closer Look Video How to Perform Hajj (90 min.) 3-D Animated Walk-through of Haram in Mecca.