LESSON 18
FASTING & ZAKĀTFasting is obligatory during the month of Ramadān (the 9th Arabic month). When the new moon of this month is sighted, the fast begins the next day. The evening the next new moon is sighted means that the fast is terminated, and the next day is the Feast of Breaking Fast (`īd al-fitr). The actual sighting of the moon, not the calendar, sets the day for beginning and ending the fast. There is often disagreement about sighting the moon, but in any case no one should fast more than thirty days.
The fasting begins with dawn, that is, the first glow of sunlight, when it is time for the prayer of subh, and ends with the setting of the sun, when it is time for the prayer of maghrib. It is recommended to take a small amount to eat and drink immediately after the sun sets, before doing the prayer of maghrib, and to have a full meal after the prayer. It is also recommended to have another meal before dawn, or late in the night.
The fast means refraining from taking any food or drink (Modern authors generalize this to include smoking, injections etc.) and also having any sex. Forbidden to fast are menstruating women or those bleeding after childbirth. Excused are pregnant women, those engaged in jihād (Modern authors extend this to any necessary work), children under the age of puberty, and the insane. Travellers are excused but must make up the fast after Ramadān. The old and nursing mothers are excused but must give an alms instead.
During Ramadān there is a vigil prayer called tarāwīh, consisting of an unspecified number of rak`as, usually ten or twenty. During the last ten days of Ramadān Muslims are encouraged to make a retreat (i`tikāf), praying in the mosque day and night. This is because one of the last ten nights of Ramadān (No one knows exactly which) is the laylat al-qadr, the night of the divine decree (Q 97), when the Qur'ān is supposed to have been revealed to the angels (It is supposed to have reached Muhammad on vigil of the 15th of Sha`bān, the eighth Arabic month); at this time God is believed to show particular favour to the devout.
Socially, Ramadān is a time of turning night into day and vice versa. Work usually slows down during the day, and if people do not spend the night in prayer they spend it in festivity. Muslims, whether devout and convinced or not, take part in the Ramadān fast and observances as heartily as nominal Christians celebrate Christmas.
Besides during Ramadān, Muslims often fast voluntarily, for example during the months of Rajab (7th) and Sha`bān (8th), for six days during Shawwāl (10th), the 8th and 9th of Dhūlhijja (12th) for those who do not go on pilgrimage, or the 8th along for those who are on pilgrimage, the 10th day of Muharram (1st), which was the fast of `Ashūrā, and three days of every other month.
The purpose of fasting, like the other obligations of Islam, is first of all to obey God's command and earn a heavenly reward. Modern authors stress its benefits for self-discipline and for becoming aware of the needs of the poor.
At the end of Ramadān, as mentioned in Lesson 17, a voluntary zakāt is given before assembling at the prayer ground. Besides this alms, an annual zakāt is binding on those Muslims who own the minimum taxable amount of farm produce, livestock or money. In an Islamic state, zakāt is the only tax which can justly be demanded from Muslims. It is collected by the government and distributed to eight categories of recipients (Q 9:60): 1) the poor, interpreted as Muslims who own less than the taxable amount, 2) the destitute, interpreted as Muslims who have not enough to feed themselves for one day, 3) those who work in collecting, registering or distributing zakāt, 4) "those whose hearts are to be won over", interpreted as non-Muslims who can be led to enter Islam as a result of this kindness, or recent converts who are not yet settled in the Muslim community, 5) freeing a slave, interpreted as buying the freedom of a Muslim held as a slave or hostage, 6) those who owe debts, interpreted as Muslims who owe legitimate debts which they cannot pay, 7) "towards the cause of God" (fī sabīl Allāh), interpreted as the expenses of jihād and stipends to teachers, imāms and judges who do not receive a salary from the public treasury, 8) travellers, interpreted as people who are stranded and have no means to get home.
Farmers who produce up to 150 kilograms of grain are required to pay tax on it; the same for any other crop, except perishable fruits and vegetables. For livestock, the minimum taxable amount is twenty-five camels, forty sheep or goats, or thirty cattle. For money, whether income or on reserve, some say it is the equivalent of 90 grams of gold (roughly $1000), but money out on loan is not taxed. In general, zakāt amounts to two and one half percent.
Besides zakāt, a Muslim state has other sources of revenue. These are: 1) a fifth of the booty taken in jiād (ghanīma), 2) all abandoned land and property (fay') confiscated through jihād, 3) a fifth of the booty taken by raids on non-Muslims outside jihād (mukhtass), 4) tribute paid by the enemy under truce, 5) the jizya, a tax levied on subject Christians and Jews equivalent to four gold coins a year, 6) 10% of the trade profits of Jews or Christians going from one Muslim province to another, 7) kharāj, a tax for the lease of land in conquered territory, 8) a collection at the end of the Friday jumu`a prayer, which is a modern innovation.
In the Qur'ān the word sadaqa meant the same as zakāt, but later it was taken to mean a voluntary alms, given directly to the beneficiary without being collected by the government. Where there is no Islamic government, zakāt is given directly, just like sadaqa. Just as everybody is urged to help the poor, wealthy individuals are encouraged to build mosques, Qur'ānic schools etc. Likewise wealthy Muslims governments donate for the spread of Islam in other countries.
QUESTIONS
- Outline the rules for the Muslim Ramadān fast; how are Christians to fast?
- Describe the social and spiritual aspects of Muslim fasting, likewise of Christian fasting.
- List the beneficiaries of zakāt, likewise of Christian collections.
- Discuss the methods of raising funds used by the Muslim community and how these funds are spent; compare with Christian practice.
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