THIS IS THE ZAKAT
The school of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) (Shiism) is different from the other Islamic creeds who believe in the obligation of the zakat but not the khums. They see that khums is required only in the booties of war.
As for the Shia, they believe that zakat is obligatory and khums is obligatory too in all what a Muslim gains in a year. According to the Prophetic Sunna, zakat is obligatory in the following things:
1. Gold and silver coins
2. Livestock; camels, cows, sheep, and goats
3. Four yields; wheat, barley, date, and raisin
If we ponder on these mentioned articles of zakat, we see that they do not satisfy the need of building an integral Islamic society that looks forward to development, to the keeping pace with modern ages, getting rid of poverty and neediness, assuring of safety and good living, building of hospitals, universities, streets and highways, assuring of good abodes, enough salaries for unemployed people or the disabled by diseases, old age, or any disability.
It is known among all nations that the wealthy class forms not more than twenty percent of a nation, the middle class that hardly satisfy their needs may form fifty percent, and thirty percent of people are poor and needy, who are in terrible need of any help.
If we rely only on the zakat in those afore mentioned items that the Prophet (a.s.) had mentioned and with the defined value of 2.5%, it shall be not enough to satisfy the needs of people and the requirements of the age.
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One, who has thousands of olive trees, shall say: `zakat is not obligatory on me, because the messenger of Allah (a.s.) has not mentioned olive among the yields included in zakat.' The same can be said about many other yields, besides tons of fishes taken out of the sea by modern tools. One, who has thousands of poultry, does not have to pay zakat as well. One, who has many real estates, also does not have to pay zakat.
If we suppose that all these people are convinced to pay the zakat, they shall not pay except 2.5% of their properties, which is a very little amount that neither fattens nor avails against hunger!
As for the khums that Allah the Almighty has imposed on Muslims when saying :
And know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for Allah and for the Messenger and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. 1
We have talked about this verse in details in our book "To be with the Truthful". Whoever wants more details let him refer to this book. We do not want to convince people that the Umayyads misinterpreted and annulled this verse and limited its rulings to the booties of war only, but we want to show what the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) did in this concern, and the Ahlul Bayt (the people of the house) are more aware of what there is in the house! They did according to the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunna and said that Muslims must pay the fifth of whatever they gain within a year.
If we think deeply through a simple mathematical operation, we shall clearly see the great difference between the reality that Muslims live today and the theory that has not been applied except to a very small group of people, and disorderly.
Let us take an example; a Muslim who has ten thousand dinars. If this Muslim follows the rulings of the Sunni, he shall pay the zakat from his wealth in a percentage of 2.5, which is two
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1 Qur'an, 8:41.
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hundred and fifty dinars, but if he follows the rulings of the Shia, he shall pay the fifth of his ten thousand dinars, which is two thousand dinars. When this Muslim pays the zakat according to the Sunni, nine thousand and seven hundred and fifty dinars shall remain with him, but when he pays the fifth according to the Shia, eight thousand dinars shall remain with him.
On this basis, a poor Muslim among the Sunni gets two hundred and fifty dinars for his living of a year, whereas a poor Muslim among the Shia gets two thousand dinars a year. The difference between the two poor Muslims is too big.
If the zakat of the Sunni suffices for the living of one poor Muslim, the zakat of the Shia suffices for the livings of eight poor Muslims.
If we compare between a rich Muslim and a poor one among the Sunni, we shall find the following account; 9750 in opposite to 250, which is a very weak proportion, forming one of forty. It means that if the poor Muslim has one loaf of bread, the rich one has forty loaves.
In the comparison between a rich Muslim and a poor one among the Shia, we shall find the following account; 8000 in opposite to 2000, which is a reasonable and acceptable proportion, forming one of four. It means that if the poor Muslim has one loaf of bread, the rich one has four loaves.
In another word, a poor Sunni Muslim has one share, whereas a rich Sunni Muslim has thirty-nine shares. The difference between the two is too immoderate, and this is what Allah has warned us of when saying :
So that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you. 1
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1 Qur'an, 59:7.
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Indeed, in this case, the rich, who form only twenty percent of the nation, possess ninety-five percent from the general wealth, and the rest of people possess five percent from that wealth. As for a Shia poor Muslim, he has one share from every four shares, and this difference, though it is big, is not so immoderate. The rich here possess seventy-five percent of the wealth, whereas the poor possess twenty-five percent of that wealth.
1
In addition to that, Islam encourages voluntary charities. In fact, Islam imposes on Muslims some other obligatory charities like the zakat al-Fitr (after fasting in Ramadan), sacrifices in the hajj, penances, and some vows. Islam also gives a legal ruler the right to take from the rich and give to the poor in some necessary circumstances, or put it in the public treasury.
However, the reality is other than what Allah has mentioned in the Qur'an and what the Prophet (a.s.) and his progeny did. You see that the wealth of the Muslim nation is in the hands of the rich who are very few, but they possess everything, whereas the poor, who are the great majority, have nothing.
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1 What confirms this fact is that many Sunni economists say that the proportion of 2.5% of the zakat is no longer sufficient to meet the increasing expenditure where the different needs of man have become much more than his needs in the past ages. In this concern, they think that they must not follow the very literality of the Qur'anic texts concerning the political and economic affairs!!! Refer to An Introduction to the Islamic Economic, by Dr. Abdul Aziz Fahmi, p. 163.
Instead of accusing the texts of being insufficient- and this is from the daring things that the Sunni are blamed for, where they claim that the Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunna do not include all rulings, and so they (the Qur'an and the Sunna) need other tools and analogy!! "And if they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those among them who can search out the knowledge of it would have known it" who are the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). So, the right solution is to add the khums to the zakat and not limit it to the booties of war only. In this way, Muslims shall be prosperous.
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The communist blocs knew this phenomenon in the Muslim world; therefore, they attacked it very easily and attracted its learned youth in the colleges and universities by the theory of the distribution of wealth among all individuals.
Most of the Muslim youth believed in communism and denied their religion and beliefs. They began blaming and criticizing their fathers and grandfathers. In fact, Islam met a very dangerous affliction by communism that destroyed it from the inside and at the hands of its learned youth. The very Muslims fought against Islam when they got the reigns of authority, and then, they affected too much their peoples.
If we are safe from communism, we have to blame the first Muslims who distorted the rulings of Allah and caused the affairs of the Muslim nation to get to what Muslims are in now of poverty, underdevelopment, ignorance, and blind fanaticism. There is no power save in Allah, the Most High, the Most Powerful!
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TEMPORARY MARRIAGE AND ITS IMPORTANCE
One of the most dangerous problems that destroy human societies is the problem of sex. As it is well known, sex is the basic factor that makes life continue as willed by Allah the Almighty Who has made masculinity and femininity in everything; man, animals, plants ... etc.
Allah says :
And of everything We have created pairs that you may be mindful. 1
And Allah has made wives for you of your kind, and has given you children and grandchildren from your wives. 2
In order that life continues, male and female must marry and produce offspring. This is the norm of Allah in His creation. For marriage and production, Allah has created this unruly instinct in man and woman equally that each gender wishes and longs for and yearns to have sexual intercourse with the other to satisfy his or her lust. In this way, an ovum is pollinated by a sperm and a fetus is formed that develops until it becomes adult to repeat the same role, and thus, life continues.
And He it is Who has created man from the water, then He has made for him blood relationship and marriage relationship, and your Lord is powerful.
3
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1 Qur'an, 51:49.
2 Qur'an, 16:72.
3 Qur'an, 25:54.
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The Islamic Sharia has put conditions and limits for this instinct in a way that not all people may bear. Islam has prohibited sexual intercourses, except by lawful marriages in order to preserve honors, lineage, offspring, and dignity of man.
The sexual lust may wake in a young boy and a young girl in their early years when they are not more than ten years old. In the west, these young boys and girls may practice sex so easily and with no limits, for western peoples think it is a natural thing, having no any problem, and therefore, they encourage it and pave the way for early mixing between boys and girls, or that parents may practice sexual intercourse before their children to make them be used to see their parents naked, besides many other behaviors that open widely the door of adultery before young boys and girls. Before fourteen years old, a girl would have lost her virginity. This is very natural there to a degree that when a man gets married to a woman and finds her virgin yet, he is astonished and considers that woman as unnatural or savage.
For Muslims, the matter is totally different. There is no room for uncovering private parts before children at all, and there is no place for mixing between males and females, except within certain limits conditioned by the required veil of woman. Add to that the moral and psychological education that children receive from parents, especially girls from mothers. Thus, girls grow up with shyness and fear of sex, bearing in mind that their virginity is the criterion of their chastity, abstinence, honor, and perfection of body.
Most of times, a young woman may come to the marital house while she knows neither much nor little about sex, and perhaps the husband may be so too. This is if they live in a Muslim society that follows the actual laws of Islam, or we may say 'the ideal Muslim society' that seems to be imaginary, because it is very difficult, or somehow impossible, to be applied, for it is not possible to suppress this instinct in males or females anyhow.
Whatever we try to ignore this instinct, we shall not be successful most of times. When the genitals and glands of a male and a
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female grow and they feel the desire to sex, they shall practice sex in a way or another, whatever parents try to watch them. There is no doubt that males and females shall find an opportunity to meet, and in the least, boys may practice sex with boys and girls with girls. Certainly, this is a dangerous matter, having bad effects and psychological diseases that may be a main cause in destroying family, and then leads to the corruption of all the society.
If western societies have exceeded all the limits in practicing sex, until people there have become like animals in satisfying this unruly lust, which is considered there as a conceded right of male and female and a part of their freedom even if they are married and living with their spouses. As they think, a husband has to regard the feelings of his wife if she wants to satisfy her lust with whomever she likes, and a wife has to regard the feelings of her husband if he wants to do the same with any woman else than his wife.
However, in the Arab and Muslim societies, we are very immoderate in the matter of sex to the extent that we have burdened our societies with psychological complexes, sexual suppression, secret practices, and yearning to woman with fatal lust as of animals.
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WOMAN IS WRONGED AMONG US
Woman, in the Arab and Muslim societies, has been wronged in general, since the day when she was buried alive until nowadays.
Muslims have not understood until now that woman has body and soul just like man; she has intellect, heart, feelings, and instincts. Man cannot claim that he has honor and dignity, except that woman can claim this too. Allah says in the Qur'an :
0 you men, surely We have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely Allah is Knowing, Aware. 1
So their Lord accepted their prayer: That I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other. 2
Of course, we do not deny that Allah the Almighty has given man a degree over woman for leadership and constancy, but it has nothing to do with preference at all. Allah the Glorified says :
They (women) have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise.
3
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1 Qur'an, 49:13.
2 Qur'an, 3:195.
3 Qur'an. 2:228.
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The wisdom of Allah has determined that man and woman are equal in rights and duties, but a degree has been given to man over woman in leadership, because Allah has given man more power and strength and made him responsible for guarding and protecting woman. When a woman feels fear and fright, she hurries to seek protection of her man or husband. Therefore, Allah has imposed fight and jihad on man and exempted woman from that. In fact, Allah has imposed on man to fight and be martyred for the sake of woman. Allah the Almighty says :
How should you not fight for the cause of Allah and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children. 1
This is what I have understood from the Holy Qur'an. It does not mean that Allah has preferred man to woman; certainly not! There may be a man better than one thousand women, and there may be a woman better than one thousand men!
We must take the messenger of Allah (a.s.) as our exemplar. He treated woman in a way that the history of humankind has never known better than. Despite that some of his wives hurt him, he did never hurt any one of them at all. He always ordered Muslims to be good to women. Nevertheless, some bad spirits of the pre-Islamic era remained in Muslims until now. You may hear that some man has divorced his wife because she did not bear a male child. Until now, they raise from the Qur'an only this motto "and beat them", besides their sayings that "woman is the seed of Satan", "she is sedition", "she is shame", "she is scandal" ... etc.
Woman among Muslims has remained underdeveloped and ignorant. She has no right to learn and study. Some people do not agree with her leaving her father's house, except to the house of her husband or to grave.
2
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1 Qur'an, 4:75.
2 There is no doubt that a jurisprudent or a preacher is the son of his milieu and society. He carries out his mission within the reality he lives in; therefore, he does not tire himself to show the ruling of Allah, face the new
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Some men declaim and repeat false traditions before learned men and women that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) has said, "The best thing for woman is that she should neither see a man nor let a man see her."
What kind of mentality is that, which contradicts what has been mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, concerning the freedom of woman and her rights equal to man's? Otherwise, what is the meaning of this saying of Allah :
Say to the believing men that they should lower their looks and guard their private parts; that is purer for them; surely Allah is Aware of what they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their adornment except what appears thereof. 1
This is very clear evidence on the freedom of woman in going out of her house as man does, and that she is ordered to lower her gaze and observe her modesty exactly as man is ordered to do.
Yes! The mentality of the pre-Islamic age has remained prevailing to some extent in the Arab and Muslim societies. Muslim men have exploited the degree that Allah has given to them over woman to give themselves all the rights and deprive woman of all her rights, leaving for her nothing.
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changes, and keep to justice. He may not observe whether people in that society are excessive or wasteful. For example, is woman wronged, or she is given her full rights?
Let us not rely on some weak traditions that do not fit our milieu and social backgrounds. A jurisprudent may not talk about the essence of hijab (Islamic veil), learning of woman, mixing (of males and females), the influence of the TV ... etc., but he does not wake up, except when he is shocked by changes , sudden events, and the cultural invasion of the west against us, and then he behaves as a surprised one; either he clings to his heritage and fanaticism, or gives a fatwa at a hurry and after time, hesitating between nomadism and modernity, open and closed society!
1 Qur'an, 24:31)-31.
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I do not go far if I say that the main reason behind our underdevelopment is our injustice against woman and closing the doors before her; no learning, no culture, no communication, no association, no going out, and no right to choose her spouse. Until recently, woman is married without her choice. In fact, how can she choose while she does not know any man?
1
Thus, a woman may find herself, in the night of wedding, before a man in the age of her father and she can do nothing except to submit unwillingly, and then it is said to her, "this is what Allah has determined for you; therefore, you have to be patient!" Then, she becomes like a productive milk cow that has nothing to do, except to give birth, suckle, and bring up, because her husband likes to have many children!
Detestation and hatred may rise and grow between the two spouses, because the husband is too old and may not understand the needs and feelings of the young wife, and most of the time, he leaves her alone, suffering the pains of the instinct and lust. And since the husband is jealous of her young wife, he tries his best not to let her see any man and not to let any man see her. However, the sexual lust defeats everything and this woman falls in the first opportunity, as a reaction against suppression and deprivation. Consequently, unlawful relations come out. Forbidden fruit is sweet! Many a woman has a lover, and many a man has a lover or lovers, and how many the children are, who
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1 The hooks of history and biographies mention that women came to the meeting of the Prophet (a.s.) and asked him to find them good husbands. Once, some women came to the Prophet (a.s.) and said to him, "We cannot he alone (to talk) with you in your meeting of men ..." He assigned to them an appointment in the house of someone, and then he went to them at the appointed time and place.
The Prophet (a.s.) permitted women to do some works. He said to the wife of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, who was forced to work to spend on her husband and children, "...you shall have reward for your spending on them, so spend on them!" There are too many examples concerning the affairs of woman, showing her freedom and rights.
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are born on the expense of others! Then, doubts, troubles, problems, quarrels, and at last divorce comes. The society is corrupted and high values are replaced by disorders, treasons, adultery, vices, and all sins. Unfortunately, this is what actually happens in our societies nowadays. Therefore, we must face these painful facts and not overlook them or insert our heads in sands like an ostrich.
Since the first day when I understood Islam and became certain that it is the best law at all, I called in meetings, conferences, and publications for the liberation of woman for making her learned and erudite. Surely, woman is the half (or more) of society, and when the half of society is paralyzed, the body of all the nation shall be unable to carry out its functions and shall die little by little.
From the injustice of our society against woman is that we have thought of the lust of man only and found effective solutions for it, in order to "close the door of excuses"; therefore, we have built public places for men to satisfy their desires whenever they like, and with no denier or objector! Rather, it seems that the matter is too natural to the extent that sometimes a brother may meet his brother, or some man may meet his nephew or another relative there in that place, and he may feel proud and victorious, because that place is a proof of manhood where no one can enter it except one who is manly!
If such a man, who feels proud before his fellows that he has gone to such place and been acquainted with different women, comes back home and sees his sister look at passersby in the street from the window, shall turn the house upside down and beat that poor sister until she bleeds!
1
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1 Some Sunni jurisprudents gave a fatwa that one, who looks at a foreign (non-mahram) woman, is to be whipped (one hundred whips), relying on the saving of the Prophet (a.s.), "The two eyes may commit adultery", mentioned by Ahmed ibn Hanbal in his Sunan and by at-Tabari in his al-Kabeer from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
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Why did jurisprudents think of the satisfaction of man's lust and they did not think of the satisfaction of woman's lust if they were just?
I do not call for the liberation of woman, as the case in the corruptive West where people do not believe in values and good morals and they believe in freedoms only, but I call for the liberation of woman within the limits that Allah and His messenger have determined such as hijab, abstinence, modesty, and chastity, and beyond that she is free to do, as her brother does in her father's house and as her husband does when she is married. If we actually do that, we shall save ourselves and our society from corruption, vices, and underdevelopment.
There is no doubt that jurisprudents thought of that, but they regarded it unlikely to found public places for women to satisfy their lusts, because this is a thing impermissible.
They might deduce that from the fact that Islam permits man to marry one, two, three, or four women at the same time, but prohibits that for women in order to preserve lineages and children, because woman is the one who bears and gives birth and not man.
However, this instinct is always vital in woman. Therefore, sufficient solutions must be found to preserve woman's dignity, honor, and entity exactly like man.
Has Islam ignored this fact? Has Islam permitted for man what it has not permitted for woman?
The Prophet (a.s.) talked much about the subject of sex and gave sufficient solutions to keep the Muslim society safe from corruption and sin. He said, "0 folk of the youth, whoever can afford to get married let him get married, because it is better in lowering the (unlawful) gaze and better in being chaste. Whoever is not able let him fast, for it shall be as protection to him."
1
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1 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 6 p. 117.
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It is a sufficient solution for the youth, who can afford to get married. Through marriage, the youth, males and females, can satisfy their sexual lust whenever it is required and save themselves from erring. The problem is only with those who cannot afford to get married. At the time of the Prophet (a.s.) where marriage was so easy and simple and did not cost much, there were young men who could not get married. Then how is it nowadays where marriage has become too difficult and costly for many reasons?
From among these reasons is that young men and young women keep on learning until the age of twenty-five, and after that, they look for a suitable job that may assure their living. Then, they must prepare a house with its furniture in compliance with the requirements of the modern ages that have become necessary. One may be, at least, thirty years old to be able to get married.
A young man and a young woman, who can biologically get married in the tenth or twelfth year of age, cannot actually afford to get married, except in the age of thirty. Then, what do they do during all these long years? If we say that they have been so abstinent and chaste and have not thought of sex at all, we may be liars to ourselves, for they are human beings and not angels; especially in this age where mixing is something very natural everywhere. A male student mixes with a female one in the university. In fact, since primary school until high education, there is mixing between males and females that is often away from parents and observers. A girl may live with her boy classmate for nine months, but she does not live with her family except for three months. So what happens there?
The answer is well known by the students themselves and by their teachers, and by everyone who works inside or outside his house.
