在语言上，"Zakah"（天课）是动词"zakah"的动名词。"Zakah"的意思是增长和增加。当用于人时，它表示改善、变得更好。

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.

因此,天课(zakah)意味着祝福、增长、清洁和提升。1 《阿拉伯语词典》(Lisan al Arab)中说:"阿拉伯语中zakah一词的词根含有清洁、增长、祝福和赞美之意,这些含义在《古兰经》和圣训中都有使用。"在艾哈迈德·瓦希迪(al Wahidi)等学者看来,这个词根"zakah"表示增加和增长,这一点似乎最为明显。例如,用于植物时,它表示生长;用于事物时,它表示增加。但植物只有在没有虫害和其他有害之物的情况下才能生长,因此"zakah"一词也隐含着清洁与净化之意。若用于人,zakah则表示品行的提升和正直。你可以说某人是"zaki",即他品德良好;也可以说法官"zakah"了见证人,意思是他表明这些见证人的证词水平更高。

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.

在伊斯兰教法中,“天课”(zakah)一词指神所规定、应分配给应得之各类人的一部分财产。该词也用来指缴纳这部分财产的行为。2 据纳瓦维转述瓦希迪的说法,这部分财产之所以称为天课,是因为它能使其所出自的财产增长,并保护财产不致失落或毁损。3 伊本·泰米叶说,缴纳天课者的内心会变得更加良善,他的财产也会得到净化。4 增长与净化不仅限于被课征的财产本身,也及于缴纳天课的人,这与经文“你从他们的财产中收取天课,借以洁净他们,淑化他们”相符。5 阿兹哈里说:天课也使穷人得到增长,意即天课使富人在其灵魂与财产上获得精神和物质上的增长。

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.

Al Nawawi 报告说，《al Hawi》的作者曾说："应当明白，zakah（天课）是一个阿拉伯语词汇，在伊斯兰教出现之前就已为人所知。众所周知，它曾被用于诗歌之中。"

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".

另一方面,达伍德·扎希里曾说,这个词在《古兰经》使用之前,在阿拉伯语中没有词源依据。《Al Hawi》的作者回应道:"虽然这种说法完全错误,但关于该词名称的分歧并不影响天课的律例。"了解这一点之后,便可以发现犹太东方学家沙赫特的说法毫无依据。沙赫特在《伊斯兰百科全书》"天课"条目下写道,先知(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)

他们认为先知在麦加时期使用"zakah"及其派生词来表示"洁净"之义，这一含义与阿拉伯语中该词的意义紧密相连，但在《古兰经》中，这个词及其派生词只用于此义，而这并非阿拉伯语原有的含义，而是借自犹太教，在犹太教中它意为"敬畏真主"。[7] 像沙赫特这样的东方学家，怀着狂热的愿望，将伊斯兰的概念、词汇、教法裁定、思想和伦理价值尽可能地归于犹太或基督教的渊源，或至少归于其他任何渊源，无论东方还是西方，仅仅出于他们自身偏见的任性。然而，要驳斥他的这一主张，只需指出以下两点即可：

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:

首先，《古兰经》早在麦加时期的初期，就已使用“天课”（zakah）一词，其含义与穆斯林如今所理解的相同。这见于以下章节：7:156、19:31、19:55、21:72、23:4、27:3、30:39、31:3和41:7。众所周知，先知ﷺ除阿拉伯语外并不懂希伯来语或其他任何语言，而且他在迁往麦地那之前与犹太人并无接触。那么，他何时、又如何能够从犹太人和犹太教中借用这一概念呢？

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?

其次，仅仅因为某人发现某个词在两种语言中都存在，就断言一种语言从另一种语言借用了该词，这是一种臆测，违背科学方法。两种语言共有的词，不一定意味着其中一种语言借自另一种语言。更加臆测的是，在没有任何证据的情况下，指出某一语言是借用方，另一语言是被借用方。

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.

在伊斯兰教法中所说的天课（Zakah），在《古兰经》和圣训中有时被称为“萨达卡”（Sadaqah），以至于马瓦尔迪（al-Mawardi）说：“萨达卡就是天课，天课就是萨达卡。”

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.

它们是同一事物的两个名称。8 真主(J)说:“从他们的财产中取出天课,借此你可以使他们得到净化和洁净”9,又说:“他们中间有人在天课的事上非难你”10,还说:“天课只归于贫穷者和需要者”11,12。圣训说:“不足五瓦斯格的谷物不需缴纳天课。不足五头骆驼的不需缴纳天课,不足五乌基亚的银子也不需缴纳天课。”13 先知(p)派穆阿兹到也门时说:“告诉他们,真主已经规定他们的财产须缴纳天课,从富人那里收取,分给穷人。”所有这些经文所说的都是天课,只是用了“萨达格”一词;甚至收取和分配天课的人也被称为“穆萨迪克”。然而在伊斯兰教的后期历史中,“萨达格”一词传统上只用来指给予乞丐和贫困者的自愿慈善捐赠。但我们不应被这种传统误导,而偏离了《古兰经》降示时该词的本义。“萨达格”一词的词根是“西德克”。法官艾布·伯克尔·本·阿拉比在评论将天课称为萨达格时指出:“它派生自‘西德克’。‘西德克’是通过行动实现所宣称的信仰的真诚。词根‘西德克’的意思是通过他物使某事得以实现并获得支持。‘萨达格’(嫁妆)一词用于女性,意味着依据契约并在伊斯兰法规定的特定条件下,确认亲密关系的合法性,以及嫁妆的给付。”

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.

词根 sidq（صدق）衍生出若干派生词。就陈述而言，动词 saddaqa 的意思是接受和证实；就财物而言，动词 tasaddaqa 的意思是施舍，以行动践行其信仰；动词 asdaqa 的意思是为女子出嫁时给予嫁妆。sadaqah（施舍）一词源自词根 sidq，因为 sadaqah 意味着为了真主而施舍财物与钱财，以此表达忠诚，并践行对复活与后世的信仰。14 正因如此，《古兰经》将施舍与信仰的肯定相联系，将吝啬与信仰的否定相联系。真主（s）说："凡施舍、敬畏真主，并以至诚确认至善者，我必为他使通往福乐之路顺畅；而凡吝啬、自以为富足、否认至善者，我必为他使通往祸患之路顺畅。"

《古兰经》中"al zakah"一词共出现三十次。17其中二十七次与拜功在同一节经文中并提。另有一处虽不在同一节，却在相连的经文中与拜功并提，即"那些在拜功中谦卑的人"与"积极履行天课的人"。18考察这三十处经文可见，其中八处为麦加经文，其余为麦地那经文。19有学者声称《古兰经》中天课与拜功并提的地方有八十二处，20但这显然是夸大之辞。即便将那些只是隐含提及天课、而仅提到施舍、借贷或供养等词的经文也算在内，也达不到那个被渲染的数字。至于"sadaqah"及其复数"sadaqat"一词，在《古兰经》中共出现十二次，且全部见于麦地那章。

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.