Regular charity leads to a state of balance in society

Some scholars consider the needy as beggars, and others say they are those who are more destitute than the poor. In this connection, it is reported that 'Akrama, an associate of Abdullah Ibn Abbas, once said: "The poor belong to the Muslims, and the needy are the poor who belong to the People of the Book." (Christians and Jews).

This view is attested by Caliph Omar Ibn Al­Khattab's explanation that the needy are the ill ones who belong to the People of the Book. It is reported that he once saw a blind zimmi (A free non­Muslim who lives in a Muslim country and enjoys protection and safety in return for paying the capital­tax) thrown aside at the gate of the city. On being asked what the matter was with him, the zimmi said, "They hired me in return for the Tax, and when I got blind they left me alone with nobody to support me." The Caliph replied, "In this case, you have not been treated justly." He gave the blind zimmi enough sustenance and added, "People like this man are the very ones mentioned by the Almighty God: "Alms are for the poor and the needy" - the chronically handicapped who belong to the People of the Book. Their handicaps detain their earnings, and there is no hope for them to be cured."

This sort of explanation makes it clear that the revenues of charity are given to the needy Zimmis who, because of their handicaps, are incapable of securing an earning - though scholars of Fiqh disagree with this view, maintaining that the revenues of charity are not to be given to non­Muslims.

Administrators of the Funds

They are those who collect the revenues of charity from the people concerned, and give these revenues to those who deserve them. Such employees are paid in proportion to their work, as employees similar in rank and position are paid. Taking part in the administration of charity has its own pay, and an employee has to be paid, whether rich or poor.

New Believers

These are people who are paid a certain portion of charity to reconcile their, and their relatives', hearts to Truth, or make them establish themselves firmly in Islam. A Muslim scholar maintains that "such a group of people falls into four categories: thosewhose hearts are reconciled for the support of Muslims, those whose hearts are reconciled to ward off their harm from Muslims, those whose hearts are reconciled to attract them to Islam, and those whose hearts are reconciled to attract their families and community to Islam. Each one of these may be given a certain share of charity, whether he is a Muslim or a polytheist."

The aim of this donation is to protect Islam and to call on as many to embrace it: in modern terms, this may be called propaganda. That is why - to finance propaganda for Islam and expound its virtues, so that all those who have no idea about it may come to know its truth - it is just to enter this among the items of expenses of the revenues of charity.

Those in Bondage

The charity paid here is meant to release bondsmen from slavery. Arabs used to fix a certain amount of money to a slave, so that if this money was paid to the master, the slave was released from his bondage. With the advent of Islam, God ordered Muslims to provide such bondsmen with a share of the revenues of charity so that they may be released from their slavery. Nowadays, however, slavery has almost vanished from the world, and here it should be noted that the Muslim State was the first State to fight slavery in history. To this effect, Islam allocated a portion of its budget to release slaves from bondage.

Those in Debt

This group includes people who are financially unable to settle their debts. They fall in three categories:

1. Those who foolishly and excessively borrow money to spend it on legitimate and prohibited affairs. The majority of scholars of Fiqh maintain that such people's debts can be settled by giving them a share of the revenues of charity, only if they repent and take their place among the righteous.

2. Those who borrow money for a personal business, like the case of a merchant who suffers constant debts in his trade, though he manages his business properly. Due to fluctuations in the business cycle, and because debt has burdened him, his capital is reduced. The standard here is that, after settling all he can of his debts, the remaining portion is balanced by way of a share from the revenues of charity.

3. Those who fall under the pressure of debt in a free public enterprise, not a personal business, like those who undertake paying blood­money to achieve conciliation among people. Scholars of Fiqh maintain that the debt of a person like this is settled fully for him. After the settlement of his debt, the principle of minimum value which the Revelation specifies still applies to his property, mainly to encourage such acts of goodness and conciliation among people.

If debtor dies leaving an inheritance enough to settle only part of his debts, the remaining part is settled by way of the revenues of charity.

It is noteworthy here that Islam entrusts the settlement of honest debts to the Treasury of Charity, thus gaining precedence over all human doctrines, especially those that existed during the time of the Revelation. And one needs only to know that, during some of its stages, the Roman law, for instance, permitted the creditor to enslave his debtors: "If a debtor is unable to settle his debts, he is sentenced to slavery if he is a free man; if a slave, his sentence is imprisonment or death."

Islam, however, entrusts the settlement of the debts of the poor to the State itself, thus encouraging people to experience acts of goodness and loans of generosity. When the owner of a property knows that his property will not be lost if he puts it in loan, he will be encouraged to do so without worry. Hence, by way of analogy, the revenues of charity may be put in loans of generosity; for if honest debts are settled, such revenues provide loans free from usury, which are later on returned to the Treasury.

The Wayfarer

Wayfarers are travellers who have no money to return home. Such people are given money from the revenues of charity, enough to secure their getting back home. If these travellers happen to be rich people - but at present have no money the Treasury offers them a loan to be paid back when repatriated.

Those Working for the Cause of God

The revenues of charity are here spent on soldiers and those garrisoned to protect harbours and other similar places. Hence, money from charity is spent on the army and all those related to it, as long as the army is fighting for the cause of God.

Some scholar of Fiqh explain for the cause of God as being inclusive of the welfare of All Muslims. Fakhr Al­Din al­Razi considers that "the literal meaning of this statement does not limit charity donations (in this regard) to fighters alone, and to this effect, Al­Khaffal, in his Tafsir, reports that some scholars of Fiqh permit spending the revenues of charity on all charitable deeds, like wrapping the dead and building forts and mosques."

The statement also includes the preparation of advocates for the cause of Islam, and the spending of money on them so that they may show Islam's grace and generosity; convey its rules and oppose its enemies - as well as the spending of money on publications that contribute to that task.

The revenues of charity may also be offered to certain institutions like welfare hospitals and schools, and to orphanages. Institutions like these are established for the welfare of the poor class.

Should the revenues of charity be spent on all those who deserve it? Scholars of Fiqh explain that a donor should not necessarily contribute indiscriminately; he may choose only one and contribute to it. The Imam, however, has to give priority to socially more urgent cases, and than to less urgent ones.

Regular Charity is a Social Security

A final word is that if Muslim States collect the dues of charity as the Revelation specifies, their income would rise up to billions and thus be enough to meet the needs of the deprived classes.

Such revenues of charity can perform the same function of progressive taxes applied by many countries.

From this, one can see how regular charity, as a social security, leads to a state of balance among the different classes of society - and Islam was the first to put it into effect.