IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICIENT, THE MERCIFUL
BEING THE SECOND KHUTBAH FOR THE MONTH OF SAFAR, DATED 9TH SAFAR 1445AH (25TH AUGUST, 2023CE)
TOPIC: THE IMPORTANCE OF ZAKAT AND SADAQAH IN UPLIFTMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC AFFAIRS.
THE FIRST SERMON
All Praises belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, who made Islaam a religion of mutual assistance, showing mercy to one another, being sympathetic to one another, and cooperation among Muslims. So, he legislated the zakaat for the purification of its giver/owner, tangible and intangible growth for the giver, and aid from its giver for their brothers who deserve it. He says in His precise Revelation: (وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوهُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ) “And keep up (establish, perform) the Prayer and give Zakât (the alms) and whatever good you send before for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah. Certainly, Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.” (Al-Baqarah: 110). We praise Him, Glory be to Him. We give thanks to Him, and believe in Him, and we put our trust in Him. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partner. And I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger. He delivered the message, he fulfilled the trust, he admonished the ummah, and Allah removed, through him, the confusion (of humanity), and he strived in the way of his Lord as he should until the Certainty (death) came to him. O Allah, may Your blessings and peace of be upon him, his family, his companions, and those who follow them in kindness until the Day of Judgment.
Thereafter…
O servants of Allah! I advise you and myself to fear Allah Almighty, secretly and openly, and know that piety is the desired purpose of all acts of worship and good deeds according to His saying, Glory be to Him: (يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ) “O people, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may attain piety” (Al-Baqarah: 21).
Dear Muslims! This is the second meeting in the month of Safar, and the topic of our sermon today focused on: the importance of zakaat and sadaqaat in raising the socio-economic status.
Islamic legislation came with acts of worship for the purpose of the welfare of the individual and society, and among these acts of worship is zakaat, and it is one of the pillars of Islaam, and the right of Allah in the wealth of Muslims that is mandatory upon them, and it is one of the financial acts of worship. So what is its importance in Islaam, and what are its economic effects?
Zakaat is an obligation of Islaam by consensus of muslim scholars, and the command to pay zakaat has been repeated in the verses of the Holy Qur’an, including the words of Allah Ta’alaa: (وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة) “And establish salaat and pay zakaat…” (Al-Muzzammil: 20), as well as the saying of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him: “Islaam is built upon five things: testifying that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the salaat, paying the zakaat, fasting Ramadan, and performing Hajj.” (Bukhari and Muslim).
Belief in the obligation of zakaat is what is known necessarily (by default) as part of the religion, due to its frequent evidence in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, so it is not permissible to deny it or not to pay it, and there is no excuse for ignorance of it. Whoever argues about it or denies it has belied the word of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, and for that reason those who claim that zakaat no longer has a place, because man-made systems have replaced it and are no longer valid for this era, their position contradicts Islaam, and there is no valid system that can replace the zakaat, because it is an enduring permanent legislation, by the consensus of the scholars of the Islamic ummah, with the evidence of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, and because of its importance in Islaam, and the greatness of its place. Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, combined it with prayer in eighty-two verses in the Holy Qur’aan, as well as the words of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s b;esings and peace be upon him, to Muadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, when he sent him to Yemen: “Teach them that Allah Ta’alaa Almighty has obligated them to give charity that is taken from their rich and given to their poor.” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim and the collectors of the Sunnan).
The importance of zakaat is such that it is one of the fine points of Islaam, which brings about mutual assistance, mutual compassion, sympathy, and cooperation between muslims, and with security and prosperity for them. Allah has indeed made zakaat a purification for its giver, made it means of tangible and intangible growth for him, and a help from its owners for their brothers who deserve it. Islaam is a religion of social-mutual cooperation such that it guarantees the needy what helps him in his affairs of life from the zakaat money, and guarantees the rich man the freedom to own (and enjoy) his money because he pays the zakaat.
We achieve a number of objectives with zakaat, which we summarize as follows:
A- The goals of zakaat for the giver:
1- Zakat cleanses its giver from stinginess and frees him from servitude to money. And these two diseases are among the most serious psychological illnesses with which a person degenerates and becomes miserable, and for that the Allah Ta’alaa said: (وَمَنْ يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِه فأولئك هُمُ المُفلِحُون) “And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful.” (Al-Hasr: 9). And the messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The slave of the dirham (money) is miserable, the slave of the velvet is miserable…” (Bukhaari).
2- Zakat is a training in benevolence and spending in the way of Allah, and Allah Ta’alaa has mentioned spending in the way of Allah that it is an attribute that is always found with the righteous, whether in their good times and in their hard times, in their secret and in their public, and He, Glorified He is, linked it to one of their most important overall qualities… He linked it to belief in the unseen and seeking forgiveness at dawn, patience, truthfulness, and obedience. It is not possible for a person to attain the stage of spending freely in the way of Allah, except after he gets used to paying zakaat, which is the minimum that is mandatory to be spent.
3- Zakat is gratitude for the Favour of Allah, a cure for the heart from the love of the world, and a purification for the soul. The Alah Ta’alaa says: (خُذْ من أموالِهم صَدَقةً تُطَهِّرهُم وتُزكِّيهم بها) “Take alms from their wealth in order to purify them and purify them with it…” (Al-Tawbah: 103), just as it is a purification for the money itself and growth for it. Allah Ta’alaa says: (وما أَنفَقْتُم مِن شَيْءٍ فهُوَ يُخلِفه وهو خَير الرَّازقين) “whatever thing you spend [in His cause] – He will compensate it; and He is the best of providers.” (As-Sabaa: 39).
B- The goals of zakaat for the receiver
1- Zakaat liberates its receiver from need, whether it is material – such as food, clothing and housing – or it is a vital psychological need – such as marriage – or an intellectual need such as books of knowledge; Because zakaat is spent on all these needs, and so the poor can be a participant in his social obligations, while he feels that he is a living part of society, instead of remaining preoccupied with the pursuit of a morsel of food, overwhelmed with the basic necessities of life.
2- Zakaat purifies its taker from the disease of envy and hatred. Because the poor person in need, when he sees the people around him living a life of prosperity and luxury, and they do not extend a helping hand to him, his heart is rarely free from envy, bitterness and hatred towards them and the whole society. Thus, the bonds of brotherhood are severed, the feeling of love go away, and the unity of society is torn apart.
The importance of zakaat and its economic effects
Zakaat is a financial worship, and a right of Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, and it has good economic effects that benefit the individual, society and the state, and muslims pay it out of faith in Allah, in contrast to the government taxes that many people evade when they find loopholes. Among the most important economic effects of zakaat are:
1- It contributes to improving the standard of living, health and education of the poor, which qualifies them to become a part of the labour force participating in economic development.
2- Reducing the financial burden borne by the state by its coinciding with the variety of helps that it provides to the needy, such as orphans, the elderly and others, and this has an economic impact on the state balance sheet.
3- Achieving the redistribution of income and wealth in society, as it is a means to achieve economic justice, which has become the subject of agreement among economists, despite differences over its definition and means of achieving it.
4- It helps investment: This is because whoever has got money (through zakaat) must invest it, and the state helps to encourage it by various means, because it will benefit its economy and raise the value of its balance sheet.
5- Providing security for the state, as poverty is one of the causes of crime, and zakaat fights poverty, so it is a means to fight crime in an indirect way.
6- Zakat also has a great role in encouraging young people to get married, by helping them to pay for it. The jurists of the Deen have established that the one who cannot marry because of his poverty should be given from zakaat what will help him to get married because it is part of what makes a person sufficiently complete.
Based on the foregoing, zakaat has economic effects that benefit the individual, society and the state, and by paying zakat, its social goals are achieved and its economic effects are achieved. It is not just a religious call that one takes as an optional feature of the religion, it is rather a legislated system of a voluntary, obligatory nature, for Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.
THE SECOND SERMON:
All Praises are due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, who praised His faithful servants who did not tarnish their faith with falsehood, and described them as having security and guidance. He says in His Holy Book: (الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوا إِيمَانَهُمْ بِظُلْمٍ أُولَئِكَ لَهُمُ الْأَمْنُ وَهُمْ مُهْتَدُونَ) “It is ˹only˺ those who are faithful and do not tarnish their faith with falsehood1 who are guaranteed security and are ˹rightly˺ guided.” [Al-An’am: 82]. We praise Him, Glorified and Exalted He is, we thank Him we believe in Him and depend on, and put our trust in Him. Peace be upon the best of God’s creation, our Master and leader, Muhammad, his family and companions, and those who followed them with kindness until the Day of Judgment.
Thereafter,
Dear Servants of Allah, it is worthwhile to talk about what happened recently in some Yoruba states in the southwestern part of the country, such as Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Ogun states, regarding the declaration of holiday for the pagan feast on Monday, 21st August, 2023. In this discourse, our address is not directed to the governors of these states, because their understanding of the religion is distantly far from what we say, how then could they understand our message. Every message definitely has a podium and every podium has its men, and every event has a reportage. Thus, we hereby direct our message to our Muslim brothers in general and to the scholars, imams and preachers in particular. As for our message to the Muslims in general, they should not be satisfied with this occasion, because being satisfied with disbelief is disbelief, and Islam does not accept syncretism (an amalgamation of religions), that is, a person cannot be a believer and an unbeliever at the same time. You participate in the festivals of the polytheists and you think you are a Muslim.
As for our message to the scholars, imams, and preachers, they should call and guide as expected of them, because the incident is an indication of the revival of the ignorance of this century, and we have to resist it with seriousness, and with all strength and action, through calling people to Tawheed (Oneness of Allah), sincerity, and worship of Allah alone, Glory be to Him. (وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ) “Even though they were only commanded to worship Allah ˹alone˺ with sincere devotion to Him in all uprightness, establish prayer, and pay alms-tax. That is the upright Way.” [Al-Bayyinah: 98] /5]. (وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ) “Let there be a group among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful” “[Al-Imran: 104]
Dua:
Oh Allah, grant us security in our homelands, grant the best among us leadership over us, support our leaders with truth, and grant us security and stability in our country. And fix the conditions of Muslims everywhere. Oh Allah, grant us security in the countries and the homes, and defend us from temptation and evil, and correct the rulers of our affairs for us, and answer our supplication, for You are the Hearer of supplication. May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon the Prophet, his family and companions.