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Zakat is of great benefit to individuals and as society is a
population of them, it has innumerable advantages. The Messenger of Allah
declared that if all the Ashab-al-Nisab paid and distribute their Zakat
properly, no one would be left needy in the entire community. This ideal state
of affairs was practically achieved in the time of the second Caliph Umer, and
later, too, once in the time of Umer bin Abdul Aziz.
People would roam the streets with Zakat in their hands but
would find no one deserving. The Messenger of Allah warned that if the society
withheld Zakat from the needy, Allah would withhold rain and blessings from
them. Equal distribution of wealth is not only impossible but also
non-pragmatic, as the fall of communism in the last century has proven.
Islam, the system devised by Allah, enforces the fair
distribution of wealth. Those who have earned it through halal (legal) means
are not deprived of its benefits; rather they only share a small portion of it
with others. Now we come to the part why Zakat is also called “increase".
When a portion of the stored wealth of the upper echelons of society is
distributed amongst the poor, they immediately rush to fulfill their needs in
the marketplace.
The result is that the wealth that was taken from the rich
ends up back with them, this time in the form of profit. The increased profit
results in payment of further Zakat and thus a wonderful cycle of wealth
distribution begins that is ever-increasing. This healthy circulation is the
primary objective of the Islamic economic system. The welfare system of Zakat
bridges the rich-poor gap eases the tensions between the classes and promotes
mutual love between them.
In the absence of
Zakat, resentment between the haves and the have-nots rises to the extent of
hatred; the crime rate increases, and anarchy reigns. Hence the responsibility for
the collection and distribution of Zakat has been placed on the State by the
Messenger of Allah, and the Caliphs continued this practice.
