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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

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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.

Parenting: Nurture your Child Emotionally, Spiritually and Physically

Parenting is a great time in one’s life. As far as parenting is concerned, it is a challenging and lovely responsibility. There are a number of different needs that a person has in his or her life. That needs may be physical, mental or spiritual. A parent should give the correct path to his child on how to fulfill these needs by the time. Good parenting is all about meeting all these needs of a child in a balanced and correct order. Many parents think that, by meeting the physical and material needs of their children, all their responsibilities are complete. No! You have to make them learn how to lead a life with spirituality and kindness. Normally, if a parent is very much busy with his job or something else, he tries to manage the needs of his child by gifting everything that is possible with money power. By doing this, you are spoiling your child’s great future. So, every parent should find some time to pay attention to his child and to love him or her with affection and care. Each child has emotional needs and spiritual needs. To meet these needs, there are different ways for parents. Parents can read about this particular subject by referring respective books or magazines. Parents can go for a class online or offline that covers the psychological scene of a child. Try to find some time to meet the intellectual needs of your children that their school cannot meet-such as visit historical places, visit some places of natural beauty, centers of worship, homes for the aged or the infirm, factories, museums, or a slum, a forest or an orphanage, a shrine or a park, a dance performance or a planetarium or a bakery, combining in this way entertainment as well as exposure to various situations and dimensions of lived reality. Parents should have to teach their children about God and his wisdom. Make them pray to God everyday at regular time with family members. Let them thank God for the good time they had in life. One cannot acquire good parenting skills by simply giving birth to a child. Its a regular practice to lead the child to a good future by giving him or her better guidance spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Physiological changes during fasting in Ramadan

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five fundamental pillars of Islam and mandatory for all healthy adult Muslims to fast from sunrise to sunset for a period of a month. During fasting, Muslims are required to refrain from all intakes of food, water, beverages, smoking and from sexual intercourse. Ramadan fasting causes many physiological, biochemical, metabolic and spiritual changes in the body. Ramadan Fasting increases the Red Blood Cells (RBCs), White Blood Cells (WBCs), platelet (PLT) count, High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-c), and decreases the blood cholesterol, triglycerides, Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-c) and Very Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (VLDL-c). Moreover, it reduces body weight, waist circumference, body mass index, body fat, blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and anxiety levels. Furthermore, Ramadan fasting decreases the inflammation, pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1b, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor a and cancer promotion. Among healthy adults, there are no adverse effects of Ramadan fasting on the brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, haematologic, endocrine profile and cognitive functions. Ramadan fasting is a healthy non pharmacological means for minimizing the risk factors and improving health. Although Ramadan fasting is safe for all healthy individuals, but those with various illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, renal and eye illness should consult their physicians and firmly follow the scientific recommendations.

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