ZAKAAT - THE THIRD PILLAR OF ISLAM

• Wealth and Society - Shaykh Abul-Hasan [ra]
  A person who injures zakat who willfully declines to pay it will be deemed to have forfeited his claim to be a Muslim. There is no place for him in the fold of Islam. Such were the men against whom Hazrat Abu Bakr took up arms and his action was universally supported by the Companions.
• Third Pillar of Islam - by Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi [ra]
  'But if the repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then they are your brethren in religion.' (-xi:11)
• For Friends...
  "I have good cause for shedding tears: After my death I will be brought in front of Allah Ta'ala to account for myself. If Allah Ta'ala were to ask me 'Why was it necessary for your friend to come begging at your door? Why did you not keep yourself informed of his circumstances, and go yourself to his house to assist when the need arose? Why did he have to come to you? If this is what I am asked, what answer will I give...?"
• An Example of Calculation of Zakaat
   
• Zakaat - a Means for Financial Purification
  Prayer and Zakah are given precedence over other types of Islamic worship because prayer, which is offered purely for Allah's sake, has an important role in restraining people from committing sinful and evil deeds, while Zakah has a greatly beneficial effect on both individual and society.
• Zakaat - Spiritual Growth and Purification
  Linguistically, the word Zakah means purity and growth. Allah says, "Take from their wealth a sadaqah, in order to purify them and sanctify them (with it)." As an Islamic term, zakah is an, ordained right to specific wealth from a specific group at a specific time to achieve Allah's pleasure and to purify the self, wealth and the society as a whole'.
• Conditions of Zakaat
  Scholars have established specific conditions or requirements for Zakat to be incumbent on the individual. Some of these conditions are related to the person that pays the Zakat and others to the property itself:
• Holdings Subject to Zakaat
  "O you who believe! Spend of the good things you have earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you." [2:267] Jurists, in general, say that this verse is discussing zakah on trade goods. Regarding the interpretation of this verse, Imam Tabari said, "Allah means that you should pay zakah on good legal earnings and pay the zakah from the good gold and silver and not the bad ones."
• Recipients of Zakaat
  Now that we understand zakah, and its various conditions and calculation, we must now learn who it is payable to. Those who are entitled to receive zakah are grouped into eight categories, as determined by the Qur'an and Sunnah. Allah says, "Sadaqat are only for the poor who do not beg and the poor who beg and those employed to collect them, and for attracting the hearts (of those who have been inclined towards Islam), and to free the captives and for those in debt and for Allah's Cause, and for the wayfarer a due imposed by Allah. And Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise." [9:60
• Zakaat and Taxes
  Zakaat, by definition, is an ordained right for specific wealth from a specific group at a specific time in order to achieve Allah's Pleasure and purify the self one, one's wealth and the society-at-large. Whereas a tax, by definition, is a burden determined by an authority (civil or otherwise). This authority collects it through compulsion and uses the revenue for general expenses and to achieve some economical, social or political objective of the state.