Fiqh Al Zakah by Dr. Yusuf al Qardawi

Taxes are always susceptible to evasion, even by individuals who are just and honest in their transactions with other people. Several reasons account for tax evasion:

selfishness and love of wealth, the belief that a certain tax is not just, or that tax proceeds are unjustly utilized, etc. The heavier the tax, the more people will attempt to escape paying it. Escaping tax payment takes two forms. The most common is to take utmost advantage of loopholes in the taxation system itself. This form of evasion is undoubtedly within the law. The other way of escaping payment is to present incorrect information which leads to total or partial elimination of the tax. This is commonly known as tax evasion.

Certainly, cheating on taxes hurts from several aspects:

A. It reduces the proceeds of the tax .

B. It disturbes the just distribution of the tax aimed for originally by its enactment.

C. It may lead sometimes to an increase in tax rates in order to make up for funds lost because of tax cheating.

D. It may reduce some useful government activities because of limited resources.

E. It spreads dishonesty society because people tend to imitate methods of tax escape.

Consequently, all tax legislations attempt to provide legal and administrative procedures to prevent tax escape, in the following ways 1. Authorizing tax officers to inspect the documents and books of the taxpayer.

2. Requiring the payer to submit a tax return given under oath or at the risk of legal penalties for incorrect information.

3. Rewarding anyone who informs the government of cases of tax evasion.

4. Deducting certain taxes at the source, such as deducting income tax from salaries before they are paid to income earners.

5. Imposing heavy financial fines and other penalties for tax evasion.

6. Giving the tax department a legal lein on all the assets of the tax payer with priority over other creditors.1

Despite these preventive measures, tax evasion cases fill the courts in all countries, and the use of tax loopholes is so widespread, it has spawned a network of experts in all nations.

Zakah is different from taxes on several bases. Its enforcement is supported by religious, moral, legal, and administrative sanctions.

Muslims treat zakah as a relation between them and God before any other thing. This is the meaning of a worship. Muslim jurists emphasize this nature of zakah very often.

Ibn al 'Arabi says, "Zakah is, in fact, a right to God, but He transfers His right to those for whom he guarantees sustenance when He says 'There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance is on God'."2 Al Kasani, a Hanafite, says, "The core of zakah is giving part of the owned nisab to God. This is done by making it the property of the poor through actual delivery to them . . . God says 'Know they not that God doth accept repentance from His votaries and receivers their sadaqah?'3 and the Messenger (p) says 'The sadaqah falls in the hands of the Most Merciful before it falls into the hands of the poor.'4 Moreover, zakah is a worship, and worship is the devotion of an action completely to God."5

When performing zakah, the payer has not the slightest resentment or feeling of injustice, since zakah is legislated by God, Who oppresses none. God is the most just Legislator and the Nourisher and Sustainer of His servants. Why would a believer try to escape zakah, knowing that God, for whom it is given, knows what is secret and even what is more hidden than a secret, and that God is going to inspect everyone's account on the Day of Judgment.

Consequently, Islamic values and ethics inculcated by faith, education, and upbringing, are the strongest guarantee that payers pay their dues properly. Muslims are educated and trained to look toward the hereafter and to be moderate in their love of worldly benefits. They seek reward from God, and they spend for God's sake. They prefer what pleases God and His Messenger above all other things. A believer does not hesitate in a choice between what pleases God and His Messenger on one side and all earthly benefits and enjoyments on the other. In the Qur'an God makes it clear, "Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your maids, or your kindred, the wealth that ye have gained, the commerce in which ye fear a decline, or the dwellings in which ye delight, are dearer to you than God or His apostle or the striving in His cause, than wait until God brings about His decision, and God guides not the rebelious."6

This kind of Faith is not consistent with escaping zakah payment. Rather, believers are eager to pay, as evident on many occasions in Qur'an and Sunnah. Twice in the Qur'an it is reported that believers asked the Messenger of God (p) about spending. God answers them once regarding what to spend and once regarding to whom one should give: "They ask thee how much they are to spend. Say 'what is beyond your needs,'"7

and "They ask thee what they should spend. Say, 'whatever ye spend that is good is for parents, and the kindred, and orphans, and those in want, and for wayfarers. And whatever ye do that is good, God know it well."8

Willingness of Muslims to volunteer their wealth is a recurring theme in the tradition of the Prophet. Anas says, "A man from (the tribe of ) bani Tamim came to the Messenger of God (p) and said, 'O Messenger of God, I have plenty of wealth. I have a family and a residence. Tell me what to do and how to spend.' The Messenger of God (p) said, 'Give the (due) zakah on your wealth, for it purifies you. And do good to your kindred, and recognize the right of the indigent, the neighbor, and the beggar,' The man said, 'O Messenger of God, reduce it for me.' The Prophet said, 'Give the kindred their right, and the indigent, and the wayfarer, and do not be extravagant.' He said, 'O Messenger of God, if I give my due zakah to your commissioner, would that be sufficient as fulfillment toward God and His Messenger?' The Messenger of God (p)

said, 'Yes, if you give zakah to my commissioner, you have fulfilled it. You deserve its reward, and (if it is altered later) the sin of altering it is on whoever changed it.'"9 Abu Hurairah narrates that a man said, "O Messenger of God, I have one dinar. "The Prophet said, "Give it as sadaqah to your own self." The man said, "I have another." The Prophet replied, "Make it a sadaqah to your children." The man continued, "I have a third." The Prophet said, "Make it sadaqah to your wife," The man then added, "I have a fourth." The Prophet said, "Make it sadaqah m your servant." "I still have another," the man went on. The Prophet replied, "You see for yourself."10 Some faithful believers sometimes brang the Prophet all their wealth to be spent as charity, in spite of their need for it. The Prophet (p) disapproves of this, and usually informed such people not to give all they have. Jabir narrates , "We were with the Messenger of God (p) when a man brought a gold nugget the size of an egg and said, 'O Messenger of God, I gained this from a mine. Take it. It is a charity from me. I own nothing besides it.' The Prophet turned his face away from him . The man came from the Prophet's right side and repeated what he first said. The Prophet turned away again. Then the man came from the left side and the Prophet turned away from him again . At last the mar came from behind. The Messenger of God took the piece of gold and threw it to the man, such that if it had hit him it would have hurt, and said, 'One of you would bring all that he owns and say, this is a sadaqah. Then he would go begging people! The best sadaqah is that which comes out of richness'"11

The keenness of Muslims to perform zakah was high, as it was part of their religious requirements. Once a group of people from Syria asked 'Umar bin al Khattab to take zakah from them for their mares and slaves, saying "We gained some wealth in the form of mares and slaves, and we would like to pay zakah on them in order to be purified."12 Another man asked 'Umar to take zakah on honey, saying "A property that is not zakated is no good."13 Ibn Mas'ud after paying the tenth or half-tenth on his agricultural produces, used to divide the remainder into three equal parts one for his family, one to buy seeds for next year, and one for charity.'' Muslims believe paying zakah is purification and sanctification for themselves and their wealth, a source of protection and a blessing for the rest of the wealth. Abu Daud reports from Suwaid bin Ghafalah, "I went along with the Prophet's zakah officer or someone who went along told me . . . A man wanted to give the officer a big she-camel with a huge hump. The officer refused to accept it, so the man gave another she-camel, which he accepted. The officer said, 'I shall take this, but I am afraid the Messenger of God may be displeased by my action. He may tell me, 'you went to a man and selected the best of his camels.'"15

Ubai bin Ka'b says, "The Messenger of God (p) sent me as zakah commissioner, I went to a man, who gathered his herd for me , and I found that he owed only one she-camel, one to two years old. I told him , ' Pay one she-camel, one to two years old.

This is the sadaqah due on you.' The man said 'This camel does not give milk, nor is it good for riding . Here is a better she-camel , stronger (but still young) with a huge hump. Please take it'. I said, 'I would not take more than what I am ordered to. The Messenger of God (p) is nearby. If you like, go to him and make him the offer you are making me. If he accepts, I will accept it. and vice versa.' The man said, 'I shall do that'.

So he went with me, taking with him the she-camel which he had offered me, to the Messenger of God (p). The man said, 'O Prophet of God, your commissioner came to take the sadaqah of my camels. By God, no one came to me before, not the Messenger of God nor his commissioner. So I gathered my herd for him to inspect , and he said, I owe one one-to-two-year-old she-camel. Such an animal does not give milk and is not good as a ride, so I offered him a bigger she-camel that is strong, and still young , but he refused and gave it back to me. This is it. I brought it to you, O Messenger of God. Take it.' The Messenger of God (p) answered. 'That was what is due on you, but if you volunteer more, God rewards you more for it, and we accept it from you.' The man said, 'Here it is, I brought it to volunteer it, take it.' The Messenger of God (p) ordered it to be accepted, and prayed for blessings on the wealth of the man." In the version of this saying reported by Ahmad, it is stated "The man said I would not give God an animal that does not give milk and is not good for riding.'"16 Clearly, the man feels paying zakah is a transaction between him and God, and therefore shies away from giving God anything less than the best.

These beliefs and sentiments are the best guarantee for proper fulfillment of zakah.

Tax cheating is the rule and not the exception in Western countries. In France, 1936, Vincent Orion remarked, "If it were not for cheating, the rates of taxes would have been reduced." President Roosevelt said about tax evasion in the United States." Many tax cheaters suse loopholes in taxation acts; many others commit violations of the law.

Either way, the spirit of the law is not observed, and we must fight all forms of tax evasion." The British Thames newspaper notes that a good part of Britain's budget deficit could be reduced if only the finance minister could discover practical means to prevent tax evasion."17

Shari'ah provides legal and organizational endorsement of zakah, in addition to the religious and moral ones. These legal and organizational guarantees include the following:

Several sayings explicitly indicate that payers are required to help zakah collectors.

The Messenger of God (p) says, "You shall receive a group of collectors whom you may dislike. When they come, welcome them. Allow them to do what they want. If they do justice, that benefits their own selves on the Day of Judgement and if they do injustice, it is their own souls they hurt. It is part of completing zakah that you please them. They also should pray on your behalf."18 Jarir bin 'Abd Allah says, "Some bedouin Arabs came to the Messenger of God (p) and said, 'Some of zakah collectors do injustice to us.' The Prophet (p) said, 'you must please your collectors.' They said, 'Even if they do oppression against us?' The Prophet repeated, 'you must please your collectors.'" Jarir adds, "Since I heard this from the Messenger of God (p), no zakah collector left me but was pleased."19 Bashir bin al Khasasiyah says, "We asked the Messenger of God, 'Some zakah collectors transgress against us. Should we hide some of our wealth in amounts equal to the amount of their transgressions?' The Prophet said, 'No.'"20

These sayings indicate that zakah payers must help zakah collectors and are not allowed to hide any information needed for the estimation of zakah, even in the case when collectors do not behave rightly and do injustice to the payers. Of course, in cases of clear-out oppression on the part of the collector, zakah payers have the right to refuse to pay the injust part and complain to the proper authorities. In the saying reported from Anas, it is stated, 'He, among Muslims, who is asked zakah in its proper rate and amount, must pay it, but he who is asked more must not give more." Since the Prophet (p) determined all zakah rates, and these are known to all Muslims, payers and collectors.

Islam prohibits cheating in all its forms, especially when it is used to avoid zakah payment. The laws of zakah do not have loopholes, but some cheating, though forbidden, may take legal form, such as interrupting the passage of the year by nominal change of ownership (e.g. giving one's wealth to one's wife, and then taking it back after a few days). Prohibition of this kind of practice is clear in the general saying of the Messenger "Deeds are only by intention, and each person has only the result of his own intention." Al Bukhari argues that the saying reported from Anas on zakah which states, "What is combined must not be separated and what is separated must not be combined Fiqh al Zakah (Vol. II), Dr. Yusuf al Qardawi 292

in order to avoid the sadaqah"21 stands firmly against cheating and tricks. Malik explains this saying with the example that "Three people, each one owning forty sheep, each being obligated to give one sheep, cannot combine their herds together and pay only one sheep for the hundred and twenty sheep. Or, two partners, each owing 101

sheep, are obligated to give as a partnership three sheep, and must not divide their sheep so that each only pays one sheap.'22 Abu Yusuf says, "It is not lawful to anyone who believes in God and the Last Day to withhold the sadaqah or to change property only to avoid the payment of sadaqah. It is not lawful to cheat or use any trick to avoid the sadaqah, by any means and for any reason."23

Both Hanbalites and Malikites prohibit all tricks, legal or not, that aim at escaping the payment of zakah. One finds in Hanbalite writing such statements as "He who purchases real estate in order to escape zakah must be charged the amount of zakah on the value of the real estate such person must be treated exactly the opposite of his intention, like one who escapes zakah by selling or by other actions."24 In Malikite writings one finds similar things, as studied in chapter six of part five of this book.

Purchasing exempted women's jewelry in an attempt to escape zakah makes zakah lawful and due on the amount escaped.

The saying reported by Ahmad, Abu Daud, and al Nasa'i decrees fines for rejecting payment of due zakah. It reads, ". . . and he who holds off payment, we shall indeed take it, along with half his wealth, an imposition decreed by our Lord none of which is lawful to the family of Muhammad." The author of Muntaqa al Akhbar comments, "this is evidence for collecting zakah from those who reject paying it, and spending it where it belongs."25

Fines were discussed earlier in this book and it was concluded that a fine of half the zakatable asset is maximum. Imposition of such fines is to be decided by the consultative and executive authorities in the Muslim society, although there are scholars who do not allow imposing any fines, on the grounds that in another saying the Prophet (p) announced, "Indeed God made unlawful to each one of you each other's blood and wealth,"26 and that the Companions fought the rejecters of zakah payment, but charged them no fines above the due amount of zakah.27

Those who withhold payment of zakah are subject to other penalties as well. When objection to the payment of zakah takes a collective form, as at the time of Abu Bakr, it represents a rebellion against Islamic law. Such rebels must be fought by the Islamic state, as Abu Bakr and the Companions fought them upon the death of the Messenger of God (p).28 Ibn Hazm says, The ruling regarding he who does not pay zakah is to collect it by force, whether he likes it or not. If he continues defending himself against the law enforcement, then he is treated as a rebel . Moreover, negating the obligation is a form of apostation. But he who escapes payment through methods of cheating, without denying or holding off payment, is doing an evil act and must be subjected to legal penalties, until he submits what is due on him. If he dies during the period of the penalty, he goes to the wrath of God. This is according to the Messenger's saying "He who sees an act of evil must change it with his hand if he can." Withholding payment of zakah is undoubtedly an act of evil that must be changed.29

In part five I discussed in detail that the due amount of zakah is not wavered even by the passage of years, and must be collected by the law enforcement body of the Islamic state, for such a right belongs to God and is assigned to the poor and needy. No one has any authority to waive it.30