Zakat in Practice (part 4)

[Introduction: This series is a sharing on zakat from the perspective of a financial planner. It is hoped to be educational, informative as well as practical to help readers better understand Zakat, especially Zakat on Wealth, as a Muslim in Singapore.

Topics to include: Zakat on Investment, Zakat on Savings, and Zakat on Estate.]

[Previously: Zakat in Practice (part 3) ]

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The recipients or beneficiaries of zakat are 8, as mentioned in the following verse:

“The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and (for) the wayfarers; a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is knower, Wise.”

(Quran 9:60)

To put them in a list:

• the poor
• the needy
• the collectors
• those whose hearts are to be reconciled (mu’allafatu qulubuhum)
• to free the captives
• the debtors
• for the cause of Allah
• the wayfarers

However, it should be noted that the above 8 beneficiaries apply under Zakat on wealth, not Zakat al-Fitr (which is payable in Ramadan).

For Zakat al-Fitr, the only beneficiaries are 2:

• the poor
• the needy

(To be continued)