by Dhikra A. Dean

Created on: September 15, 2009

First of all, it's important to clarify that there are two kinds of Zakah, or charity, and both of them are paid once per year. However, the Zakah Muslims pay on possessions is not to be paid in a specific time of the year, whereas the Zakah we will be speaking about in this article - also known as "Zakat al Fitr" - must be paid necessarily before the prayer of Eid al Fitr, which means on the last day of Ramadan, according to the majority of scholars.

One of the main reasons behind Zakat al Fitr is to provide needy people with the means to celebrate Eid al Fitr, which is one of the most important Islamic festivities. Zakat al Fitr consists of two double-handfuls of what is considered as staple food in the country where one lives. It is mandatory to pay upon every Muslim who possesses at least this quantity of food on top of the basic needs of his family. In many countries, nowadays, it's customary to fix every year a certain amount of money, that corresponds to the value of two double-handfuls of staple food.

The Qur'an mentions eight categories of people who deserve to receive Zakat al Fitr:

1) The poor - in respect to Zakat al Fitr, generally are considered as poor those that don't possess enough means to feed their families.

2) The needy - the needy are all those people that, while having enough food, don't have the possibility to assist their family in other basic needs.

3) The debtors - the debtors are all those that are overwhelmed by debts and cannot find a way out without help.

4) Those who work for the cause of Allah (fisabilillah) - these can be several different categories of people. For example, schools that teach Islamic subjects, people who teach Islam to non-Muslims, and basically all categories of people who do something righteous for Allah's sake.

5) The travelers - by travelers here are intended those people who travel by foot, or by other similar means, which are draining their energies and putting them in a condition of need.

6) Those who can free prisoners - this category includes all those people who are devoting themselves to activities finalized to the release of captives.

7) Those in need to reconciliate their hearts with Islam - this is a very broad category, which can include newly converted Muslims, or Muslims whose Islam is weak and are therefore in need of help to strengthen it, non-Muslims who are inclined to convert to Islam, non-Muslim having hostile intentions which can be pacified with the Zakat al Fitr, and others.

8) The collectors of Zakah - this category might seem obvious, but it does include two different possibilities: One is the collection and preservation of Zakah, in case there are no people in the community who deserve to receive it; in this case, the Zakah is saved for the community's future needs. The other is the payment of a salary for the collectors' job from the Zakah revenue.

Something important to remember is that Muslims are encouraged to give charity also out of the mandatory Zakah. In fact, they should help the poor and needy throughout the year, whenever this is possible.

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