In continuing the series on Sadaqah and Zakat, I will highlight two short hadiths (instructions from the Prophet) related to Zakat and expand on how Zakat contributions can benefit the society where we live and is more relevant to our unique circumstances and priorities as a minority community.
First and foremost, Zakat is an obligation. Prophet Muhammad created an institutional framework for the collection and distribution of Zakat in an organized way by assigning people to the task. The Prophet had said, "Indeed there is a duty on wealth aside from Zakat". He also said, "When you pay the Zakat you have fulfilled what is required of you". This clearly illustrates the differences between Sadaqah and Zakat, and the clarification that Sadaqah is a separate contribution from Zakat and is not in lieu or part of Zakat.
Although Zakat is collected from individuals, it is a collective responsibility for Muslim to organize the collection and disbursement of the funds with the collective interest in mind. Because of this, there is flexibility in the collection of Zakat. During the Prophet’s time, society was agrarian and trading through bartering was more common. As such instructions from the Prophet showed flexibility in the collection of Zakat. Contributions were made with grains and fruits at harvest time and with animal, valuable merchandise as well as coins during annual collections. In our context, a monetary contribution is the most convenient and fast way to fulfil Zakat obligation, making collection and disbursement so much faster and easier.
Most middle-class and wealthy individuals today no longer earn income from agriculture. Instead, most are now employees of large corporations, governments, and businesses that have diverged from the agricultural society. Today, knowledge and industrial work is what generates monthly income and annual wealth. The collection of Zakat is flexible enough to allow for annual collections, as well as monthly collection against earnings which one could consider to be like harvest on which zakat is due in addition to total wealth. This flexibility ensures that society can continue to make contributions as befit their ability.
There is a unique twist for the collection of Zakat which pertains to harvest collected from unsupervised land and/or from the wild and that from agricultural land. The Zakat on produce from wild or unsupervised lands is double that of harvests from cultivated farmland. This is an interesting take on Zakat, where benefit gained from soil without any human input other than harvesting is double that of land that has been toiled over. How do we extend these ideas and flexibility to income and wealth that comes from knowledge and industrial activities in our current economic and financial system? Should wealth based on earned income vs. dividend/capital gain be subject to the same level of Zakat or at a differentiated rate, as practiced by the Prophet seem to indicate? Should there be some transparency in the way Zakat is calculated and reported rather than purely at the discretion of the individual? These concepts are worth exploring and corresponding practices and obligations developed and refined to ensure equity and long-term benefit to society.
Here at MyLLife our Zakat collection comes directly from our donors. MyLLife serves the role of a collector, and we prioritize such resources around education and research that advance our core tenet of Truth and Justice in society. This is to safeguard such privileges for our younger generation as they establish themselves as productive and engaged citizens. So far Zakat collection is primarily directed to the MyLLife Scholars Programs in Public Policy, education in legal and media studies, training young mind on responsible research and to fund (in future) entrepreneurial endeavors to create wealth for the community.
Please consider a sizable portion of your Zakat for MyLLife in 2025 and beyond so that we can create a significant pool of funds and direct such funds for real impact for our community. Since the first generation of immigrants are still a significant part of our community, much of our Zakat funds also get sent overseas to countries from where many of us immigrated from. This dilutes the overall impact and deprives us of the funds needed in our community here in the USA, which we call home and where we need to thrive and strengthen our presence.
