Tilda zakat so'zi zakah fe'lining masdaridir. Zakah o'sish va ko'payish ma'nosini anglatadi. Inson haqida aytilganda, u yaxshilanish, yaxshiroq bo'lish degan ma'noni bildiradi.

Zakah in language is an infinitive of the verb zakah. Zakah means to grow and to increase. When it is said about a person, it means to improve, to become better.

Shunday qilib, zakot — bu baraka, o‘sish, poklik va yaxshilanishdir.1 "Lisan al-Arab"da aytilishicha, "Arab tilida zakot so‘zining asli poklik, o‘sish, baraka va maqtovdir. Ushbu so‘zning barcha bu ma’nolari Qur’onda ham, Hadisda ham qo‘llangan." Al-Vohidiy va boshqalarga ko‘ra, "zakot" ildizi ko‘payish va o‘sishni anglatishi eng ravshan ko‘rinadi. Masalan, o‘simliklarga nisbatan u o‘sishni, narsalarga nisbatan esa ko‘payishni bildiradi. Ammo o‘simliklar faqat hasharotlar va boshqa zararli narsalardan toza bo‘lsagina o‘sadi, shuning uchun "zakot" so‘zi poklik va tozalanishni nazarda tutadi. Agar u insonlarga nisbatan ishlatilsa, "zakot" yaxshilanish va solihlikni bildiradi. Siz odam "zakiy" deyishingiz mumkin, ya’ni uning xulqi go‘zal, yoki qozi guvohlarni "zakkaa" qilgan deb aytishingiz mumkin, ya’ni u guvohliklarida ularning yuqoriroq darajada ekanligini ko‘rsatgan.

Consequently zakah is blessing, growth, cleanliness, and betterment.1 In Lisan al Arab it is said, "The root of the word zakah in Arabic means cleanliness, growth, blessing, and praise. All these meanings of the word are used in Qur'an and Hadith." It seems to be most obvious according to al Wahidi and others that the root "zakah" means increase and growth. For example, with respect to plants it means to grow and with respect to things, it means to increase. But since plants grow only if they are clean of insects and other detrimental things, then the word "zakah" implies cleanliness and cleansing. If it is used with respect to persons, zakah then means betterment and righteousness. You may say a man is "zaki"; that is, he has good character, or you may say that the judge "zakah" the witnesses to mean he shows that they are of a higher level in their testimony.

Shariat nuqtai nazaridan "zakot" so'zi Alloh tomonidan belgilangan, turli toifadagi haqdorlar o'rtasida taqsimlanishi lozim bo'lgan mol-mulk ulushini bildiradi. Shuningdek, bu ulushni to'lash amalini ifodalash uchun ham ishlatiladi. Al-Navaviy al-Vohidiydan rivoyat qilishicha, bu mol-mulk ulushi "zakot" deb ataladi, chunki u undiriladigan mablag'ni ko'paytiradi va uni yo'qolish yoki halok bo'lishdan saqlaydi. Ibn Taymiya aytadi: zakot beruvchining ichki ruhi yaxshilanadi, uning boyligi esa poklanadi. Ko'payish va poklik faqat zakot berilgan mol-mulkning o'zi bilan cheklanmay, zakot beruvchi shaxsga ham yetib boradi. Bu quyidagi oyatga muvofiqdir: {Ularning mollaridan sadaqa ol, uni bilan ularni poklab, pokiza qilasan}. Al-Azhariy aytadi: zakot kambag'alni ham o'stiradi, ya'ni zakot boy odamning ruhi va boyligida ruhiy hamda moddiy o'sishni yuzaga keltiradi.

In Shari'ah the word zakah refers to the determined share of wealth prescribed by God to be distributed among deserving categories. It is also used to mean the action of payment of this share2. According to al Nawawi's report from al Wahidi, this share of wealth is called zakah because it increases the funds from which it is taken and protects them from being lost or destroyed.3 Ibn Taimiyah said that the inner soul of the zakah payer becomes better, and his wealth becomes cleansed.4 Growth and cleanliness are not restricted to the zakated assets themselves, but reach out to the person who pays zakah, in accordance to the verse "out of their wealth take zakah that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them".5 Al Azhari says: it makes the poor grow too, meaning that zakah creates psychological and material growth for the rich in his soul and wealth.

Nawaviy xabar berishicha, "al-Hoviy" kitobining muallifi shunday degan: "Shuni bilish kerakki, zakot islomgacha ma'lum bo'lgan arabcha so'zdir. Uning she'rda ishlatilgani ma'lum va mashhurdir."

Al Nawawi reports that the author of al Hawi said: "It should be realized that zakah is an Arabic word known before Islam. It is well known that it has been used in poetry".

Boshqa tomondan, Dovud az-Zohiriy bu so‘zning Qur’ondan oldin arab tilida hech qanday asosi yo‘qligini aytgan. "al-Hawi" muallifi buni javobsiz qoldirmagan: "Garchi bu butunlay noto‘g‘ri bo‘lsa-da, ism borasidagi ixtiloflar zakot hukmlariga ta’sir qilmaydi", deb javob bergan. Shunday ekan, yahudiy sharqshunos Shaxt "Encyclopedia of Islam" da "Zakah" sarlavhasi ostida yozgan da’volarning hech qanday asosi yo‘qligini bilish mumkin. U yozganidek, Payg‘ambar (p)

On the other hand, Dawud al Zahiri said this word has no source in the Arabic language before it was used in Qur'an. The author of al Hawi answered "although this is totally wrong, differences about the name do not affect the rulings on zakah." Knowing this, one can find no base for the claims of the Jewish Orientalist, Shacht, who wrote in the Encyclopedia of Islam under the title of Zakah that the Prophet (p)

Zakot sözini va uning hosilalarini Arablar uchun bo‘lgan ma’nodan kengroq ma’noda ishlatgan deb, bu so‘zning ma’nosining bir qismini yahudiylardan olgan, ular ibroniy va aramiy tilidagi "Zakut" so‘zidan foydalangan, deb da’vo qiladi. Shaxt shunday deydi: "Payg‘ambar ﷺ Makkada bo‘lgan paytida zakot so‘zini va uning hosilalarini poklanish ma’nosida ishlatgan. Bu ma’no arab tilidagi zakot so‘zi bilan va arablar ongida mustahkam bog‘liqdir, lekin bu so‘z va uning hosilalari Qur’onda faqat shu ma’noda qo‘llanilgan va bu arabcha asl ma’no emas: u yahudiylikdan olingan bo‘lib, u yerda "Xudodan qo‘rqish" ma’nosini bildiradi."⁷ Shaxt kabi orientalistlar o‘zlarining g‘arazli qarashlariga ergashib, islomiy tushunchalar, so‘zlar, hukmlar, fikrlar va axloqiy qadriyatlarning imkon qadar ko‘pini yahudiy yoki xristian kelib chiqishiga, yoki Sharq yoki G‘arbdan bo‘lgan boshqa biror manbaga bog‘lashga fanatik intilishga ega. Biroq uning da’vosini quyidagi ikki nuqtani bayon qilish orqali rad etish kifoya:

used the word zakah to mean more than what it meant for the Arabs and borrowed some of the meaning of the word from Jews that used the Hebrew and Aramaic work Zakut." Schact said: "The Prophet (p), when he was in Makkah, used the word zakah and its derivatives to mean cleansing. This meaning has a close tie to the word zakah in Arabic and in the mind of Arabs but this word and its derivatives are not used except for that meaning in the Qur'an and this is not an original Arabic meaning: it is borrowed from Judaism where it means 'fear of God'.7 Orientalists such as Schact have a fanatic desire to attribute as much as they can of the Islamic concepts, words, rulings, thoughts, and ethical values to Jewish or Christian origins or at least to any other origin, be it Eastern or Western, following only the whims of their own bias. It is sufficient however, to disprove his claim by stating the following two points:

Birinchidan, Qur'onda "zakot" so'zi, hozirgi musulmonlar tushunadigan ma'noda, Makka davrining boshlanishidayoq ishlatilgan. Bu quyidagi suralarda uchraydi: 7:156, 19:31 va 55, 21:72, 23:4, 27:3, 30:39, 31:3 va 41:7. Shubhasiz ma'lumki, Payg'ambar ﷺ arab tilidan boshqa, jumladan ibroniy tilini ham bilmas edilar va Madinaga hijrat qilishlaridan oldin yahudiylar bilan hech qanday aloqada bo'lmagan. Qachon va qanday qilib ular yahudiylikdan va yahudiylardan qarz olishlari mumkin edi?

Firstly, Qur'an used the word zakah, in the meaning known to Muslims now, as early as the beginning of the Makkan period. This is found in Suras: 7:156, 19:31 and 55, 21:72, 23:4, 27:3, 30:39, 31:3 and 41:7. It is undoubtedly known that the Prophet (p) did not know Hebrew or any other language except Arabic, and that he had no contact with Jews before migrating to Madinah. When and how could he borrow from Jews and Judaism?

Ikkinchidan, biror tilning boshqa tildan so'z olganini faqat ikki tilda shu so'zning umumiy bo'lishini ko'rib da'vo qilish ilmiy metodologiyaga zid bo'lgan taxmindir. Bunday umumiy so'z bir til ikkinchisidan uni olganini albatta anglatmaydi. Biror tilni o'zlashtiruvchi, ikkinchisini esa o'zlashtirilgan deb ko'rsatish esa hech qanday isbotsiz yanada ko'proq taxmindir.

Secondly, it is mere speculation that violates scientific methodology for anyone to claim that a language had borrowed a word from another language simply because he finds the word common to the two languages. Such a common word does not necessarily mean that one language borrowed it from the other. It is even more speculative to point out one language as borrowing and the other as borrowed from without any proof.

Shariat ma'nosidagi zakot ba'zan Qur'on va Sunnatda "sadaqa" deb ham ataladi, hatto al-Mawardiy: "Sadaqa — bu zakot, zakot esa — bu sadaqa", degan.

Zakah as known in Shari'ah is sometimes called in the Qur'an and Sunnah "sadaqah", to the extent that al Mawardi said "Sadaqah is zakah, and zakah is sadaqah.

Bular bir narsaning ikki nomi.8 Xudo (J) aytadi: "Ularning mollaridan sadaqa ol, shunda ularni poklaysan va tozalaysan"9 va "Ular orasida sadaqot borasida sendan ayb qidiradiganlar ham bor"10 va "Sadaqotlar faqirlar va muhtojlar uchundir."11,12 Hadisda aytilgan: "Besh vasqdan kam bo'lgan mahsulotda sadaqa yo'q. Besh tuyadan kam bo'lgan mollarda sadaqa yo'q va besh uqiyadan kam bo'lgan gumushda sadaqa yo'q."13 Yamanga yuborilganda Muoz'ga murojaat qilib Payg'ambar ﷺ dedilar: "Ularga xabar ber, Xudo ularning mollariga sadaqa farz qildi, u ularning boylaridan olinadi." Bu matnlarning hammasi zakot haqida gapirgan, sadaqa so'zini ishlatgan holda; hatto zakotni yig'uvchi va taqsimlovchi ham musaddiq deb atalgan. Ammo Islom tarixining keyingi davrlarida sadaqa an'anaviy ravishda faqat gado va muhtojlarga beriladigan ixtiyoriy xayriya ma'nosida ishlatila boshlagan. Ammo bunday an'ana bizni chalg'itmasligi va Qur'on nozil bo'layotgan davrdagi so'z ma'nosidan chetga og'dirmasligi kerak. Sadaqa so'zining ildizi sidq so'zidir. Qozi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabiy zakotni sadaqa deb atashni izohlab, shunday deydi: "U sidqdan olingan. Sidq — e'lon qilingan iymonni amalda ro'yobga chiqarishdagi rostgo'ylikdir. Sidq ildizi biror narsani boshqa narsa orqali ro'yobga chiqarish va qo'llab-quvvatlash ma'nosini anglatadi. Ayollar uchun sadaq (mahr) so'zi nikoh shartnomasi va Shariatda ma'lum shartlar ostida belgilangan mahr orqali yaqinlikning halollигини ro'yobga chiqarishni bildiradi."

They are two names for the same thing."8 God (J) says, "of their wealth take sadaqah that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them"9 and "and among them are men who slander thee in the matter of sadaqat"10 and "sadaqat are for the poor and the needy."11,12 Hadith says, "There is no sadaqah in what is less than five Wasq. There is no sadaqah in what is less than five camels and there is no sadaqah in what is less than five uqiyah."13 Addressing Mu'adh when sent to Yemen the Prophet (p) said "Inform them that God has prescribed sadaqah on their funds, to be taken from their rich." All these texts were talking about zakah while using the word sadaqah, even the zakah collector and distributor is called musaddiq. But In the later history of Islam, sadaqah was traditionally used to mean only Vol.untary charitable donations given to beggars and destitutes. But such a tradition must not be allowed to mislead us and divert us from the meaning of the word at the time when Qur'an was being revealed. The root of the word sadaqah is the word sidq. Judge Abu Bakr bin al 'Arabi, commenting on naming zakah sadaqah, states that "It is derived from sidq. Sidq is truthfulness in realizing declared belief by action. The root sidq means realizing and supporting something by another. The word sadaq (Dowry) for women means realizing the lawfulness of intimacy by the contract and the dowry under specific conditions known in Shari'ah.

"Al-zakah" so'zi Qur'onda o'ttiz marta uchraydi.17 Ulardan yigirma yettitasida u bir oyatda namoz bilan birga keladi. Bir joyda esa u namoz bilan bir xil oyatlar ketma-ketligida, ya'ni "namozlarida xushu' qiluvchilar" va "zakotni ado etuvchilar" iborasida zikr qilinadi.18 Qur'ondagi ushbu o'ttiz o'rinni tekshirish shuni ko'rsatadiki, ularning sakkiztasi Makka oyatlari, qolganlari esa Madina oyatlaridir.19 Ba'zi mualliflar Qur'onda zakot namoz bilan sakson ikki o'rinda bog'liq ekanini da'vo qiladilar,20 ammo bu aniq mubolag'adir. Chunki zakotga yashirin ishora qiladigan o'rinlarni ham qo'shsak, sarflash, qarz berish yoki ovqat berish kabi so'zlar zikr etilgan joylarni hisobga olsak ham, bu ko'zda tutilgan raqamga yetib bo'lmaydi. "Sadaqa" so'zi va uning ko'plik shakli "sadaqat" esa Qur'onda o'n ikki marta zikr qilingan bo'lib, ularning barchasi Madina suralarida keladi.

The word al zakah occurs in the Qur'an thirty times.17 In twenty-seven of them it is associated with prayers in the same verse. In one place it is mentioned with prayers in the same sequence of verses, this is, "those who humble themselves in their prayers" and "who are active indeed in zakah."18 Surveying these thirty places in the Qur'an shows that eight of them are Makkan verses and the others are Madinan.19 Some writers claim that zakah is associated with prayers in eighty-two places in the Qur'an20, but this is an obvious exaggeration. Since even if we include such places that have implicit reference to zakah, while words like spending, lending or feeding are mentioned, we would not reach that acclaimed number. As for the word sadaqah, and its plural, sadaqat, it is mentioned in the Qur'an twelve times, all of them in Madinan suras.