Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi

This short book discusses an important issue of ownership in Zakat transfer. In traditional scholarship, it is considered a necessary condition that ownership per se must be transferred from the Zakat payer to the Zakat receiver for Zakat to be considered as paid. The argument for this viewpoint is that alphabet ‘Laam’ comes before the name of the recipient and one implication of this use of ‘Laam’ is ownership.

However, in contemporary literature and practice, beneficial ownership is also considered acceptable and sufficient. Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi had argued in this book that scholars of Arabic language had identified as many as 22 uses of the alphabet ‘Laam’.

Furthermore, ‘Laam’ is only used with four eligible recipients of Zakat in Chapter Tauba, verse 60 while for the remaining four, the word ‘Fi’ is used. In order to make the meaning consistent for all eligible recipients, it is necessary that beneficial ownership is implied from the alphabet ‘Laam’.

In current times, welfare for poor is organized in an institutional setting whereby, they are provided with food, water, sanitation and support services like health and skills based education to enable them to exit poverty. Some of these services originate from a public good or common property resource, such as water filtration plant, anti-malaria sprays, public schools, public hospitals, public libraries and public transport, to name a few.

Contemporary Hanafi jurists resolve this problem through Wakalah where the institution providing welfare services to the poor is made Wakeel to receive and allocate Zakat on behalf of Mustaheqeen on their welfare with approval.

Nonetheless, it is a legal stratagem which is not necessary as per the noted author. In Pakistan, students of Madrasa are given Zakat and then compelled to donate it for Madrasa. This kind of ensuring Tamleek is merely eyewash and mockery of Islam.

As per the author, it is allowed to spend Zakat in projects which benefit poor collectively. Even though ownership is not confined privately, but services are provided to the Mustaheqeen from the infrastructure that is built from the Zakat funds.

In this regard, Imam Al-Razi (R.A.) writes that ‘to’ indicates ownership, while ‘in’ connotes the purpose of the spending in verse 60 of Chapter Tauba. Allama Yousuf Qardawi argues in ‘Fiqh-uz-Zakat’ that Shari’ah requires that Zakat funds are for the Mustaheqeen. They can be spent on their welfare. Ibn-e-Munir in ‘Al-Intisaf’, a footnote of ‘Kishaf’ writes ‘Only the view that Zakat shall be spent for the Mustaheqeen’ is consistent with the word ‘fi’ as well as ‘Laam’ simultaneously.

Malaysia and Indonesia in particular have made use of the concept of beneficial ownership to make Zakat spending more productive, impactful and beneficial for the poor at large.

The author also argues that it is incorrectly implied from a narration that Zakat funds collected from a region should necessarily be spent on the people of that region. He argues that this kind of understanding will hurt the objective of equitable distribution of income. Poor regions will remain underfunded. Rich regions may not even find poor people to spend Zakat.

Take the example of Gaza. Almost every family is displaced and more than 45,000 people have lost their lives in a very small densely populated region till now. If we use the understanding that only Zakat funds collected from Gaza can be spent on the people of Gaza, then the institution of Zakat would remain completely helpless.

Even other narrations point to the fact that companions who were made ‘Aamil’ did not have that understanding. Therefore, it is not necessary that Zakat can only be spent on the people of regions from where it is collected.

Finally, the author also argues that the category of recipient Fi Sabeel Illah includes all such activities which directly and indirectly benefit Deen. In Malaysia and Indonesia, Zakat funds are also earmarked for propagation of Islam.

Hence, this book is a significant attempt to rethink the institution of Zakat to make it more productive, impactful and beneficial for the poor while removing the inconsistencies and misunderstanding about Zakat administration. Rather than just arguing from the rational viewpoint, the author provides solid reasoning from Qur’an, Hadith and Arabic language to substantiate his viewpoint decisively.