Speaking to Ilke New Agency about the worship of Zakat, which is one of the 5 pillars of the Islam, Mullah Abdulkuddus Yalcin, one of the members of İTTİHADUL ULEMA, said that the distribution of Zakat and fitrah are made more by proxy method today.

Yalçın also said that fitrah is a charitable donation of food that must be given before Eid prayer, before the end of the month of Ramadan, for the love of Allah.

“Fitrah must also be given by every self-supporting adult Muslim who has food in excess of their needs, on behalf of themselves and their dependents,” he added.

As one of the pillars of Islam, zakat is a form of obligatory charity that has the potential to ease the suffering of millions. With the literal meaning of the word being ‘to cleanse,’ Muslims believe that paying zakat purifies, increases and blesses the remainder of their wealth.

 “Whoever pays the zakat on his wealth will have its evil removed from him” (Ibn Khuzaimah and at-Tabarani).

Zakat is also a spiritual connection to one’s maker – to purify your wealth for the will of Allah is to acknowledge that everything we own belongs to Him, and it is for Him that we strive to end poverty and help our brothers and sisters.

Yalçın went on to say: “Zakat is 2.5% of wealth that has been in one’s possession for a lunar year. If wealth amounts to less than a threshold figure, termed the nisab, which is the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver, then no zakat is payable. If wealth amounts to more than the nisab, zakat becomes obligatory.”

“The eight kinds of people who can receive zakat”

Yalçın said: “Zakat is not given to everyone. Zakat can be paid to individuals or groups who from eight zakatable categories designated by God in the Quran. They include the poor (al-fuqarâ’), meaning low-income or indigent, the needy (al-masâkîn), meaning someone who is in difficulty, zakat administrators, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, meaning new Muslims and friends of the Muslim community, those in bondage (slaves and captives), the debt-ridden, those who are in the cause of God, the wayfarer, meaning those who are stranded or traveling with few resources. Zakat al-Fitr must go to the above-mentioned categories. The zakat al-mal cannot be used for any other such things either. Zakat cannot be given to the rich. Zakat cannot be given to parents, grandfather, etc., or to one’s children and grandchildren. A husband cannot give Zakat to his wife. Zakat cannot be given to non-Muslims.” (ILKHA)