Abdullah Hakim Quick – New Muslim Corner – Zakat In Ramadan
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The Muslim-only Muslim gathering called the Muslim Corner aims to encourage Muslims to share information and ask questions, and is designed to make people feel confident and empower them to understand Islam. The gathering is a proactive approach to faith, and is a proactive approach to faith. The importance of fasting during the month of Easter, the solar calendar, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of understanding the foundation of Islam is emphasized, and the need for a revolution to make money is emphasized. The importance of giving and the importance of giving is discussed, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of giving is emphasized, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of giving is emphasized, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of giving is emphasized, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of giving is emphasized, and the importance of giving is emphasized. The importance of giving is emphasized, and the importance of giving is emphasized.], [The speaker discusses
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Okay.
All praise are due to Allah, Lord of
the worlds,
and peace and blessings be constantly showered
upon our beloved prophet Muhammad,
the master of the first and the last,
and upon his family, his companions, and all
those who called to his way and established
his sunnah to the day of judgment.
As to what follows, my beloved brothers and
sisters, to our friends,
to our viewers, Assalamu alaikum. This
is another opportunity for us,
in the month of Ramadan,
to share information,
and to
try our best to please Allah
And this,
circle,
this gathering is the new Muslim Corner,
which is established
to,
enable
those who have recently embraced Islam,
to have fellowship and also
to be able to question and understand what
Islam actually is.
Another,
purpose that come that has come out of
these sessions over the years
is that there are many Muslims
who, were born in Muslim families,
And
they practice Islam because their father told them
to, their mother did,
their village,
their culture,
but they didn't really
embrace Islam.
And it wasn't until maybe they were 25
years old, 30 years old,
that they actually,
accepted Islam in the sense that
they consciously started to practice.
They consciously started to,
investigate.
And that feeling
that comes to rev I call revived Muslims,
not born again. Right? That's Christian concept.
But revived Muslims
is very similar,
to a person who embraces Islam
because we consider that when a person embraces
Islam, they are not converted,
but they are actually returning
to what they originally were.
So so that feeling of,
newness, that feeling of innocence,
within Islam and that desire
to understand
what it is about
purely for Allah,
and his messenger,
that really is what we are addressing
in these classes.
And so,
intentionally,
the teachings here will be
basic teachings,
to lay the foundation
and to make it easy,
for people to understand
who have just come in.
And we will open the floor for questions.
Nobody should feel shy to ask questions.
The only thing is that for those
people who are already Muslim,
this is not everyday fiqh class.
Meaning this is not the Mufti who's giving
you fatwas and decisions,
from one school of thought or another school
of thought or this culture. That's not the
purpose of the
class.
However,
we will touch on certain aspects as long
as they don't become too, controversial
or too complicated
because we want to make it easy.
And Islam is the religion of ease.
It's not the religion of difficulty.
And the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
when he would send his companions out, he
would tell them
So he tell them,
to to give glad tidings.
Don't drive people away.
Make it easy.
Don't make it difficult.
So the idea of Islam is,
a positive outlook.
You know, it is proactive
way of approaching faith faith.
And so
with that in mind,
alhamdulillah,
we are reaching now the middle of Ramadan.
And so by now,
the fast
has become more regular,
for those who are fasting. It's still a
struggle. It'll always be a struggle,
but it is not the shock that maybe
you felt in the 1st couple days.
And this is where,
it is our hope and intention
that we can rise above the level of
the somalawam,
and that is the fast of the general
masses of the people,
which is a more of a struggle for
food and drink.
It's a physical fast.
And that is necessary. That's part of the
fast,
but that's not the higher level.
The higher level we learned was Somal Hawass
and that is the fast of the special
ones
who are fasting
not just,
struggling with food and drink,
but their limbs are fasting.
So their eyes are fasting,
their tongue is fasting, their ears,
their hands are fasting, their feet.
All different aspects,
of their limbs and their life
are observing a type of iMSAC
abstaining.
So it's abstaining from,
evil and negativity.
That is the the the special fast.
Okay? And then there is Psalm Hawasal Hawas,
and that is the special of the special,
and that is where
the heart is fasting.
And so the per so the person's
heart, which is not just a lump of
flesh in the body,
but it's like your conscience.
Okay? Your your your inner self connected to
the, you know, to the soul.
Taha'i is fasting from
jealousy,
pride,
ria,
meaning doing religious deeds,
to be seen by people,
conceit,
all the negative diseases of the heart.
And so it's literally now a fast on
a different level now,
And it brings about a consciousness
where we become more consciously aware
of,
what we are doing, what we are thinking,
what we are about,
that is really critical.
And I believe that that type of fast
is really something
that needs to be spread,
that hopefully, Somal Hawam,
you know, one day the master's fast would
be the higher level fast.
Because tribalism
and, ethnicity
differences
is one of the big obstacles,
facing Muslims today.
So getting to our fast, we are reminded
by Abu Sa'id al Khudari, radia Allahuwan,
who reported that the messenger of Allah, salaam,
said there is a gate in paradise
called Ar Rayyan,
Bab Al Rayyan,
through which only those
who were fasting are allowed to enter on
the day of resurrection.
So picture the day of judgement.
Now people have been risen,
you know, up from their graves.
The scales are there.
There's so many things that are happening. Judgment
is taking place.
And with all this going on,
you know, and
a type of sirot,
a type of path
being led from the mokef or from the
basic area of the judgment,
going to paradise or hellfire,
there is a gate that will open up.
And an announcer will say,
where are those who used to fast?
Accordingly, they will proceed to enter the gate,
and when they all enter, the gate will
be closed behind them.
So this is Bab el Reyyan,
and
that is a beautiful,
thought, a beautiful destination,
for those who are fasting
and a motivation for us,
to try to to struggle even though it
may seem difficult.
The different aspects
may
sometimes weigh heavy upon our our self,
but Allah
has prepared
special blessings,
for those
who go through this month of Ramadan,
with sincerity,
right, with sincerity.
Now
we need to think about time,
And we've entered,
right on the middle now. So this
is the 24th March,
but on your calendars
that you should have in your house,
right, or on your phones now, everybody has
their phone,
It's now 14th
of Ramadan.
So
after Maghrib
after Maghrib prayer,
today,
what would be the date
after Magadib prayer?
Is anybody,
you know, what what would it be? Today
is 14th. Right?
So after Maghrib, what what is gonna be
the date?
It's 15th.
It's 15th.
Okay. And this is an important concept.
And it it's tough for us because we
gate we we we
are are are gearing our whole thought process
around the solar calendar.
Okay? That's the way we think. That's our
lifestyle is based on this. The lunar calendar
is something different.
And so after Maghreb,
when the sun, you know, has set,
it is actually the beginning of the next
day.
Before there was light, there was darkness.
Darkness and then light.
So for us, it's also the same. And
in Arabic and in other,
Islamic languages or people Muslims who speak in
other languages,
Arabic, they say,
Laylatul Jum'ah.
So Laylatul Jum'ah,
the night of Jum'ah,
Friday
night,
actually is,
Thursday
night, night.
Later to Jumah.
Okay? And that, again, as I was saying
before,
I had a problem living in Medina and
learning Arabic and people saying, you
know, Friday night. Friday night is this is
Saturday night,
which means a lot to people here in
Canada. Right? This is when you come out
to play. Right? Saturday.
You're off work.
It's Saturday night.
But no, after Mahrib,
Sunday.
Okay?
And so this will become important to us,
as we go through the month.
And,
some people divide the month
into 3 parts.
You could say the first 10 days
and then the middle 10 days
and then the last,
10 days as well.
Okay? These are divisions. Now it's important now,
you know, to have these divisions,
in your mind
because they will be impacting
some of our ibada, some of our worship,
our devotions,
and it will impact,
how we are actually functioning,
in the end of the month. And I
don't want to get this to be too
complicated
even for myself. Right? Because we're at the
end of our fast track, and our brains
are not working as well. But,
so that means
that the last 10 days
okay.
Friday, March 29th.
Friday, March 29th
will be 19th.
Okay? So that's Friday coming,
and that's gonna be before we actually meet
again.
Okay? So Friday coming
will be,
is 19th going into 20th.
So from that
time,
the last 10 days begin.
And and and there are certain, issues. We're
not gonna
focus on them today because they're really more
connected to the end.
But there are issues like,
Air Tikaf, which is seclusion, you know, in
the mosque,
certain things which are
are impacted,
you know, by the fact that you're you're
in the last 10 days.
And if we want to have a brief
discussion about it in the in the question
period, we can.
But I wanted to focus on something else.
But also in these dates,
the the the April 5th.
Okay? So you can keep it in your
mind, the evening of April 5th
is the 27th
night.
Okay. So on your calendars, you need to
sort of,
that's a special night because that is when
the Quran was originally revealed,
on the 27th night. That is and that
was is considered the night of power.
But we will find out in our discussions
that the night of power could also be
the 21st night or the 23rd or the
25th, 27th, or 29th,
although most scholars will still,
put emphasis on the 27th.
And our communities
put great emphasis on the 27th night,
so the masjid will be packed
on the 27th night.
And, some people feel it's the climax of
the whole month. It's not actually the climax
of the month,
but it is an important night that we
will learn more about next week. We're gonna
talk more about it next week. But I'm
just letting you know that now because before
we meet again, 21st,
will have come in.
Okay? And and we can talk about that,
you know, more in the,
question period if necessary.
What is important though based upon,
our request, you know, the that was made
is that we look at the institution of
Zakat.
And,
that comes in,
for two reasons.
That number 1,
the concept of Zakat itself.
Okay? And we recognize and, again, going back
and said, Akbir alayhis salam,
inform me about what is Islam.
And the prophet, sallam, said that Islam is,
to bear witness that there is no god
but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger,
and to establish prayers, to establish Zakat,
to fast in Ramadan,
and to make pilgrimage,
to Mecca
once in a lifetime
if you are able to.
Okay? So these
are the 5 pillars of Islam.
This is the foundation of the whole faith.
And again, you know, we learned and we
studied
that the next question Jibril asked is what
is
iman? What is iman?
And that is what is faith and we
looked at the articles of faith and went
into them,
with some,
details.
So
we recognize that the basic foundation that the
whole house of Islam,
rests upon,
one of the pillars
in it is Zakah.
So this is something which is,
really important for,
Muslims to understand.
For for new Muslims,
it is important.
However,
it is not really
the most important thing right in the beginning.
Okay? Because right in the beginning as we
learned from our great scholar,
Sidi Abdul Haman,
that is that we need to correct and
authenticate our faith.
We have to understand,
tawhid, the oneness of Allah,
and understand risala,
the prophethood.
K. This is critical,
from the beginning and then that is expressed
through prayers.
It's expressed through our prayers.
And
under normal circumstances,
fasting in Ramadan wouldn't necessarily be an immediate
discussion,
for new Muslims.
But this year, it comes it has come
right in for us.
Okay? So now is the time we we
we are focusing on Ramadan.
And because
of the practices of many Muslims
dealing with zakat, and I'll explain that to
you,
this is a good time to deal with
the institution of zakat.
The intention, however, is not to go into
the details of zakat, because that is a
very detailed subject, but to give you a
general concept
of what what zakat actually is.
So there's 2 basic,
types of zakat.
The first is zakatulimal,
and that is
the the the purity purification,
you know, of your wealth.
Okay? Because one of the root definitions of
zakat
is purity.
So so your wealth
is actually not clean
until you pay zakat.
And,
so this requires
Muslims to,
donate a portion of their wealth to charity,
and I'll go into the details.
Okay? And,
in order to do that, you must meet
a certain threshold.
And we'll we'll talk about that before you
qualify
for zakat.
This is a general statement. I'll break it
down.
So when you reach a certain threshold,
nisab,
in your wealth,
then
you'll be you you will
you will qualify.
You have to pay zakat.
And the amount,
basically, is 2 a half percent
or 1 fortieth
of an individual's total savings
and your wealth.
Okay?
And the zakat,
can be paid at any time during the
lunar year.
You can do it at any time.
However,
what many people do, and I think it's
very wise,
they think about zakat or they establish Ramadan
as a good time
to, sort of, do your review of your
zakat.
Because this is one of the best times
to be giving anyway,
and the prophet of Salaam was the most
generous
during the month of Ramadan.
But technically speaking,
zakat is due upon wealth.
If it is in your possession
1 year,
If you have wealth in your possession,
stored wealth
for 1 year
in your possession,
then you're supposed to actually purify it by
paying a percentage of that
to those who are in need.
Okay? And there are some details,
in this.
This is why it's good and I'm using
this as a base.
I do this myself and many people do
it. It's a good time. If you use
Surah Ramadan as your base,
then in case you forget because you say,
well, I'll do it in June.
And maybe something comes up in June and
you forget about it.
So it's easy to forget about it. Maybe
1 year went by on your wealth.
But when Ramadan comes,
especially in the middle of Ramadan,
that's when our minds are more open.
It's a good time, you know, we're reminding
ourself.
So, you know, as a good base,
for your zakat,
this is a good time. Okay? So this
is a general
idea about zakat.
Of course, the concept of zakat,
and again, this is what the whole faith,
you know, is based on, is giving.
It's Sadaqa.
And and and and giving of yourself, your
time, your strength, your wealth,
this is an important part of
being a Muslim.
Okay? But this specific institution
is something which has been prescribed upon us.
It has been it is prescribed. It is
an obligatory
act
that we're actually doing.
Okay?
So,
zakat literally means to increase
or to purify.
K. These are like the literal meanings, you
know, coming out of the,
the thing.
And
so this is basically
somebody who has wealth,
who is, you know, in insanity and the
person is mature.
Right? If if a person is not
a breadwinner,
not, you know, a younger person depending on
somebody else,
then that person, you know, isn't somebody who's
paying zakat.
But if you are earning wealth
and you have that, then you would be
paying zakat.
And this is a very important institution. Many,
scholars have looked into this. It's really important
because what Saket does
is that it takes from the wealth of
the rich
and it gives to other people in the
society who are in need.
And and this is really important,
and it actually forms
the basis of an economic system.
You know, in the world today, they say,
with it's the capitalist system
based on individual property
ownership,
capitalism,
or socialism,
which is the group
where the wealth is owned by the state
itself, by the group itself,
and it's supposed to be a shared
society. Although both both of these things don't
really they're not really realities. Right?
But theoretically,
these are the 2 great systems. The Islamic
system is not capitalism. It's not socialism.
K? We do believe in private property.
So a socialist might look down on us
because we do believe in private private property.
However, we don't believe in monopoly.
You can't monopolize.
And there's a certain amount of your wealth
that will be taken from you has to
be taken from you
whether you like it or not,
because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who is ruling
us
is taking it from us and then giving
it to those who are in need. And
what comes out of that
is,
an institution,
where the wealth is is called okaf. It's
it's like a
a welfare institution
where our wealth is, you know, given,
and is controlled by the state.
And so therefore,
those who are in need will be able
to satisfy their needs
without making a revolution against the capitalist. Right?
The socialists
believe
that the the poor will naturally they'll make
a revolution against the rich.
It's inevitable.
K? And they believe this thing called Marxism
dialectical materialism.
That is that the poor are gonna rise
up.
There's gonna be a change. So you gotta
make a revolution
in order to do that. We don't need
a revolution.
Because if we're practicing Islam,
the wealth will be,
distributed
amongst the people, and we will not allow
somebody to monopolize.
We're not gonna have Walmarts.
We're not gonna have Amazons.
Right? If somebody's doing service to people, fine.
But you're not gonna take all the wealth
and say, now Jeff Bezos, right, I'm the
richest man in the world.
One individual, how can you spend 1,000,000,000 of
dollars?
What can you eat?
What can you wear?
Right? When you have other millions of people
starving to death. Right?
So how can you have a a Jeff
Bezos?
How can you have this? This is not
right.
So we will not allow monopoly
to happen
within our system.
And if somebody, through their intelligence, their ingenuity,
you know, they're able to get a lot
of wealth. There are some of the companions
of the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, like
Uthman Sayyidan Uthman ibn Affan
was
a rich person.
Abdulhaman ibn Auf,
rich person. Some people, they just have this,
green thumb. They just have this ability to,
like, make things grow.
Okay? They're good natural business sense. Nothing's wrong
with that
because nobody's gonna be equal.
But those who who who who Allah puts
wealth in your hand, you can't monopolize it.
You can't keep it for yourself.
You see? So
this is a very important part of Zakat.
That's why it's you see it's one of
the pillars of Islam. Right?
It's one of the pillars.
The whole Islamic
lifestyle
and institution,
is is is is, you know, held up
by this economically.
So it's a very important thing that needs
to be done, and it's one of those
institutions that is not
OIC,
and see 57 so called Muslim, majority countries,
and and you will not see,
zakat
being instituted
properly in our countries.
Before the colonial period,
there were some countries where it was being
distributed,
but we were, for the most part, conquered
by foreign forces,
and they instituted their system on us economically.
Their banking system,
their agricultural system, it was forced upon us.
Therefore, the system of Zakat, the system how
how it it was phased out.
It it was forced out.
Okay? So now
as Muslims gain independence
okay. We have independence. We can pray. We
can fast.
But this one here is gonna take some
time. Right? Because
our money is connected to the international monetary
system. Right? Our banks are connected.
So in order for you,
and I don't wanna get too political here,
you know, in order for you to really
institute this, you gotta be independent.
And those leaders who started talking about,
selling, changing their money, and buying gold,
and changing their system,
they were under
they were assassinated.
This is a very serious issue for those
of you who wanna go deep into it.
But the root of this
starts with the individual,
and that's what we're dealing with here in
our discussion
to go to the root of it. So
now to qualify for zakat,
this is what we call the nissab.
So the nessab
is from your accumulated wealth.
Okay? It's not the wealth that you use.
So for instance,
if you have 2 houses,
one house you live in,
and another house
is your extra house you make money off
of. You rent it out.
Okay? So you don't pay Zakat
necessarily on the one you live in.
Okay? But you would the one that's accumulated
wealth is the one that you're renting out.
Okay? Similarly with your jewelry,
similarly with, you know, other possessions, the things
you live with and and use all the
time for your life,
that's not considered like, you know, your accumulated
wealth.
Okay?
So
if a person now,
reaches the stage
where in their accumulated wealth,
they have,
approximately
$1400
that have been in their possession for 1
year.
Now I'm just giving you the basis now.
This this can get there's a lot of
discussions and theories. I'm just giving you the
basis of it. Make it easy.
But this $1400
worth that's why it's good to take the
middle the middle of Ramadan or the end
of Ramadan as a good time. Right?
Because then you can sit down and look
at all the wealth,
you know, that you have. If you're like
me, you don't have to worry because I'm
a poor man.
But if but if you have wealth,
then you're gonna have to look at it.
You have to look at your properties. You
have to look at if you own animals,
most of us don't have farms and have
animals. And you might have land.
You might have gold and silver.
Okay? So that accumulated wealth
then, you know, at this point and and
we're gonna use the middle of the end
of Ramadan as our point, you say, okay,
you know, I have,
$10,000
worth of accumulated wealth.
Because a lot of our money these days
is not in gold bars and silver bars.
You know, we don't have a sheep, you
know, grazing outside.
You know, you have a TD Bank bank
account. Right? Or whatever. And and maybe you
have some extra jewelry too. Right? Not the
stuff that you're using, but you have your
dowry that you kept aside. So you got
some gold that you're, you know, which you
would fall back on.
K? So that then
you have to do, an an an, you
know, estimation of the worth of that.
K? So you do an estimation of the
worth of it,
And if your,
wealth
exceeds $1400,
then
you have to pay zakat.
If it's less than 1400,
you don't have to.
K? So so everybody doesn't have to pay
zakat within Islamic societies because there are some
people,
you know, who can't afford it.
Right? And again, that's the balance that comes.
Right? That's the balance.
So that is the NISOP.
Any questions on this so far?
I'm gonna stop a little bit because, you
know, it might get a little complicated. Yeah.
Okay. This this comes from from the the
the the the prop prophet Muhammad, and this
comes from our sources.
This is what you're supposed to be. Okay.
Yeah.
Second question.
Zukat is for charity.
Can charity include helping family
Yeah. So if,
if the family member,
is somebody who is underneath you,
like your children or your dependents,
then you wouldn't give them your zakat. But
there may be a cousin or somebody in
extended family,
you know, who is in need.
You can,
give zakat to that to that person,
but not dependents
because you're given to them anyway. Right?
But but you could give to somebody,
you know, in the extended family.
And and I'm gonna show you the categories
of people who
who who who who you give this account
to. But but but
yeah. Go ahead. Forgot Yeah. No. That's a
that that that's a good question. It's a
very good question. I have Yeah. Go
ahead.
Yeah. I mean, if you are in debt,
you're supposed to pay your debts off,
but,
you'd still pay zakat.
You you you you you still you should
you should still again, there's a lot of
discussions on this,
but I'm I'm taking the safest position,
you know, because the way we're living in
Canada, you said, well, we're all in debt.
Right?
No.
To be safe, you need to we need
to purify our wealth.
So you may have a long term mortgage
that's gonna take you 50 years for the
bank sucking your blood,
But purify the wealth that you have and
be safe.
Right? And it's not gonna hurt you because
opposition is when you give, you're gonna get
back.
Right? And you're gonna help somebody too who's
in need.
Go ahead.
If someone is on, disability
income, do they have to pay on that?
Disability
income.
But that's the basic income that the person
has.
No. So the party's You know no. The
income is is not that that you don't
you're not paying on that. You're paying on
accumulated wealth.
See, accumulated wealth. If the person, you know,
has an income coming in, however it is,
that's fine.
But the wealth that's, you know, in their
account that stayed for a year in their
possession,
then they they pay on that.
Now, the question here? Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, you know, to be to
be honest with you,
within our system of life,
you're not supposed to be involved in interest.
You're not supposed to be involved.
And and so, you know, we are in
a weakened state.
We need to at least make the move
out of it.
So if you do take a a a
mortgage or you do take a loan,
you you need to do it in a
sense that, you you know, you're gonna pay
this thing back before interest starts coming in
on it.
If not, don't
if not, don't take it. And what it
means sometimes
is you don't have a a a new
SUV
or you don't have this house like you
want. You know, somebody said to me, I
know it's important to own property.
It's it's a type of freedom.
But
somebody said,
I have to do this brother. I gotta
take this, you know, this mortgage. I gotta
take the interest. But then I thought with
the brother, okay. If you rented this house
and you paid rent,
right, and you have no interest on you,
the ceiling's above you,
the hot and cold water's running,
and you lived inside of that house. You
know, the person the person lived inside of
the house for 20 years,
and they passed away.
Okay? But when they died, they had no
interest.
The other person
took out a a mortgage,
and he said, I own this house.
Okay? So he lived your ceiling's above you,
hot and cold water are are run-in.
Okay? And he lived in the house for
20 years, and he died.
But when you die, you don't take the
house with you.
But what you will take with you
is interest,
that you paid interest.
The other person rented,
you
know, he's a renter.
A lot of it is psychological.
Right? But when that person passes away, there's
no interest on them.
So we have to start thinking like this.
Right?
And and if we are in it, and
I know how widespread it is, we are
in it, it's a difficult life,
but you have to figure out ways to
come out of it.
To come out of it as long as
you're making the intention, you're asking Allah to
forgive you,
and you're trying to come out of it,
then at least, you know, we we can
face Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But technically speaking,
interest is not right,
and interest is considered to be,
you know, one of the worst possible sins
after shirk itself, after polytheism.
So,
you know, it it's it is something for
us to you know, we're in it. So
to purify our wealth,
you know, what we have, even though the
system looms upon us,
the safest position and you may get all
these counter arguments and this and whatever, ways
you're gonna save yourself,
purify yourself
to gain Allah's, you know, forgiveness,
and, you know, help somebody, you know, at
Pesach.
K?
Now
who are the people who deserve zakat?
So there are categories coming out of Quran
itself. We don't have time to go into
all the different,
you know, you know, you know, you know,
the verses and, you know, whatnot.
But
basically,
the fukora,
which is the poor, meaning low income or
indigent,
You know, and there is the next category,
the needy, which is Masakin.
Okay? Someone who's in difficulty. Now, Fakir and
Meskeen.
Now in some of your languages, if you
speak Urdu or, you know, you speak Arabic,
you say miskin has a lot of meanings
to it. Right?
But in terms of jurisprudence,
faqir,
the poor person is the person who is
can't provide for themselves.
They literally,
you know, really poor. They're really down and
out. The Mesquite
is somebody who has wealth,
but maybe their house burnt down.
And so now
their house burnt down. They they are now
poor,
But they are a person who eventually can
get get it back, but at that point,
they're miskeen.
They fall in that category.
So you might say, well, I'm not giving
to him because he's he he has a
good job and his house just burnt down,
man.
All of his money's gone. So even though,
potentially,
he's
a she's a breadwinner,
give it to the Mesquite.
The third
category is the people who collect Zakat.
Okay? In in the Islamic society,
somebody would come to your to your door.
They might come to you and knock them
boom boom boom. You know, assalamu alaikum, brother
Ali.
Have you paid Zakat?
And then you would say because you don't
have to give it to the state,
but, you know, you know that you're paying
it, you say yes I did. So he
would say Alhamdulillah.
The ones who didn't pay it and need
help,
The zakat people will help you.
Now what there may be also is zakat
institutions.
So we have institutions set up who actually
manage your zakat.
Okay? So a portion of the zakat will
go to administrate,
the the zakat.
In this case, it would be the zakat
people who are come go into your house
and do you know, they're getting paid from
this too.
K? So so that makes the the system
sustainable. Right?
Makes it sustainable. But the basic
onus to, you know, of of paying the
cat, the responsibility
is on all of us individually.
Everybody.
The 4th category are those whose hearts are
to be reconciled,
meaning new Muslims. And this is a beautiful
thing about the Islamic system, is that a
person accepts Islam
and comes in,
they actually,
you know, qualify for for zakat.
They should be empowered.
And and that's important because many times somebody
accepts Islam and their family, you know,
you know, despot leaves them alone.
They don't have wealth,
part of the zakat would go,
to the new Muslims
to empower them, right,
in their Islam.
Another category is for slaves and captives.
For slaves and captives.
Because when Islam came in, slavery was a
worldwide institution.
And it wasn't, you know, until maybe a
100 years ago,
or so that it it wasn't completely abolished
all around the world.
Right? Because there's all types of slaves too.
Right? It's not just ball and chains and
you beat somebody in a plantation.
There's also,
you know, debtor slaves.
Actually, you know, in in European history, the
serfs
who lived under the lords,
and and they couldn't go anywhere. Right? They
had to give their wealth to the lord.
They were
that's a type of slavery.
Okay? So
but now, alhamdulillah,
officially, there's no slavery. So that category doesn't
really apply,
you know, to us. Some people say, well,
can I pay bail?
Somebody, you know, Zayed got, you know, arrested.
Can I pay his bail? No, man.
No. That that's not what this means.
You can give sadaqa to pay his bail.
Right?
But it's not he's not a slave.
Right?
6 is somebody who is debt ridden,
you know, and needs help.
You can also help them,
you know, to relieve their debts,
you know, with it.
Next is, in the cause of Allah.
People who are striving in the cause of
Allah,
you know, and they are, you know, doing
things to, you know, to protect the Muslims,
to to, you know,
to spread Islam, you know, whatever, you can
also give him the cause of Allah.
And the next is the Musafiyah, and that
is the the the traveler.
As the travel travelers move in,
you'll have somebody who comes in the community,
and we have immigrants, you know, who might
have come or travelers, whatever, coming through, you
can give to the Musafi.
So these are the basic categories
of those who receive the I'm gonna go
right to because there's another part of this
that I have to deal with.
Okay? But any general questions right now about
these? I think they're pretty straightforward.
Now the next point that I wanna touch
before we get too close to the time
is the second part of type of zakat.
That is zakatofitter.
So zakatomal
is your wealth, purification of your wealth, and
the second is the purification
of your fast fasting.
Okay?
And, this is
obligatory,
you know, giving,
you know, and it's paid by Muslims at
the end of the month of Ramadan.
However, now
it is recommended you can start paying it
from earlier in the month.
This this zakat al fit. Has recommended to
actually pay it from now,
because those who distribute this
in the situation we're in here
need to have that to start distributing it,
you know, earlier.
Or or or to have that with them
to know what they have to set to
to set it up. Okay? So it's called
Sadaqatul Fitr, the charity of fast breaking.
Right? And it is due
as of Suqat al Fitr, at the end
of Ramadan.
Right? It should be paid for everyone in
the family. Everybody needs to pay this. Male,
female,
you know, adults, children.
Everybody needs to pay this.
Okay? So,
ibn Abbas,
I read the long one.
He's he stated that,
the prophet
enjoins zakatul fitah, so that those who are
who who fast are purified of their sins.
So given this amount
is purified, you know, a purifier of their
sins,
and the poor and needy people are unable
to arrange their basic needs of food, clothing,
etcetera.
Therefore, the sadaqah
of the person who gives before Eid prayer
because this has to be paid before Eid
prayer.
Right? It's considered tzedakah.
But if someone delays,
and this is the words of Ibn Abbas,
the great Sahabi, if someone delays and gives
it afterwards, his charity will be ordinary charity.
It will not purify
your fast, and we're we're all making mistakes
in our fast.
And we see the levels of our fast.
Our eye is supposed to be fastened too.
Right?
Other things supposed to be fast, so we're
making so this is important.
So that means
that,
in the family,
if the husband and wife had 2 children
So in that case, you would pay 4
amounts.
If you're by yourself, you just pay 1.
Okay? But, you know, the the the whoever
the breadwinner is, male or female,
you know, would be paying for dependents.
And females, even if you're on your own,
you know, whatever, you know, and you have,
you know, some will also purify your fast.
What they're supposed to purify your fast.
Okay. How much is Zakat al Fitter?
Abu Sayed al Khudari,
his hadith forms the basis of this, just
to show you where the source is. And
he said, we used to pay zakat al
fitter at the end of Ramadan when the
messenger of Allah sallam
was amongst us with one saw
of food.
A saw is like a bushel.
One saw of dates, one saw of barley,
one saw of raisins, one saw of dried
yogurt.
We continue to do this until Muawiyah came
to us in Medina, and he said I
think 2 muds
of Syrian wheat is equivalent to 1 saw.
K? This is getting technical now. And and
this is what, you know you know,
and so they but he said,
you know, like like this and people accepted
this. So the saw is a volume
equal to 4 double handfuls,
you know, of the grain or the dates.
The mud is a is a quarter of
a saw, one double handful. You don't have
to worry about all these details.
And some and, you know, I lived in
Medina, alhamdulillah. I thank Allah for that, you
know, experience.
And so when you're in a Muslim country
I was in Medina in the seventies. Right?
So it's not everybody driving Lamborghinis.
And we had poor people.
So so,
on e day,
around that time, people are waiting on the
side And we would get a saw
of barley,
grains, or whatever it is, dates, whatever they
needed,
and then you can distribute it.
Because but but in Canada, you're not gonna
have people,
waiting outside,
you know, for this grain.
And so in the Hanafi school of taught,
and this is now, you know, one of
the great scholars, Imam Abu Hanifa,
Rahimu Allah,
and, it is now, you know, being used
by many people.
They allowed the equivalent
the equivalent of this to be paid. And
so that is now the more reasonable way
of doing this.
So instead of giving people,
what would be the the the grains here
in Canada, like, what we use now, you
know, here, because we have all the type
of but giving somebody a big bag of
rice. No.
What is equal to a meal?
What is equal to a meal?
Okay. That would be,
what you'd pay out. And and that is
being estimated
and you you'll get different estimations,
but here it is being estimated
at $15
per person.
So what this means, to make a long
story short,
is that before Salat al Eid,
we all need to pay Zakat al Fitr
to purify
our fast
before salat al fitr.
And,
the the IIT and other institutions,
you know, have you'll see slots that are
there, and there will be a a section
for zakatofitter.
So if you gotta pay your zakatofitter,
make sure you put it into that,
in that particular thing. Or if you you
know, we're gonna give it to somebody, you
can.
You'll get different, slightly different positions, you know,
in different masjids of as to the the
the quantity or, you know, how you do
it. But this has been made,
you know, by
North American FIC Council and by scholars in
many parts of the world, especially the, you
know, the western world, in order to make
our Islam flow in with the lifestyle that
we're living in.
Because if you don't if somebody wants to
get a meal, I mean, you can hardly
get, you know, a nice, you know, shawarma
and, you know,
something to drink or whatever, you know,
$15,
you know, for a meal.
Okay?
And there's not it's actually
and somebody said, well, that's too much. It's
the more we give is the better. Right?
So so don't think in terms of,
you know, how much exactly. The more you
give the better. If you wanna give for
the zakat al fita $100,
you can do that because your money is
gonna go to the poor. Alright?
And
zakat al fitr will be paid to the
poor and the needy
before salatulid.
Okay? And if it's paid after salatulid,
it will be just charity.
Okay? So these are the 2,
you know, types of zakat. And because of
a request that came, we wanted to deal
with this zakat.
So you can start thinking about this,
you know, now. Next week, inshallah,
we'll look at,
Eir Tikhaf, which is seclusion in the mosque,
and also Laylat al Qadr, the Knights of
Power, in the last 10 days. We'll look
at that from next week,
Insha'Allah.
But, you know, it's it's important now to
start thinking about giving.
Last the last part of Ramadan, give.
You wanna give to the cause. This is
the time you wanna give to, you know,
Philistine, to Gaza.
You wanna give to situation in Sudan.
You know, whatever whatever it is you want
to give to, you know, think about your
zakat,
do your calculations,
and then give.
Give so the people can have it.
Because they're in desperation now. We know that
what's happening on the ground.
They're in desperation.
So if you can do that as soon
as possible, it's better. So the floor is
open for any,
general questions. Question?
Yeah. I mean, sometimes if you give, say
for instance, Islamic relief or something like that,
they might even ask you, you know, is
that, you know, you know, zakat or, you
know, some of them may ask you. But
the real intention is you.
So when you give that particular money, that's
between you and Allah. Right?
So so you're giving it, you know, this
is my zakat.
But some of them will ask for that,
some, you know, may not.
But you have, for instance, in the IIT,
you may have boxes. You can say,
you you know, fitter or, you know, whatever.
Okay? And and for those, by the way,
you know, who are making up a day.
Maybe, if if if a woman, you know,
missed for her monthly, you know, periods, had
to make up 5 days.
Right? And then you're gonna, you know, you
know, you know, you you you you can
make up the days, but, you know, you
but we we also learned that the mother
is is is breastfeeding
then, you know, she she makes up the
day. And because it it was done because
of the milk for the child,
then you you you feed a poor person,
you know, for every day. Or if a
person cannot fast,
they permanently can't fast,
Then you feed a poor person, that's PHIDIA.
So you'll see the word PHIDIA,
in one of the categories.
And the FIDJIA now is calculated to be
$15 as well.
So $15
for every day
in the month. So if a person is
physically challenged and they cannot fast,
then they would pay a $150.
I mean, it was you know, they would
pay the $15 per day,
k. Or whatever it is.
Yeah.
Okay.
This is another reason why it's it's good
to separate accounts.
You know, and I say this to sisters,
you know, you know, your husband might say,
oh, darling, I love you. Put your money
in my account.
No, man. You have your own account.
You should anyway. Right? Because you're an independent
person.
It's better for income tax too.
Have your own account. However,
for the group,
because some things is gonna be your jewelry,
and your you you have your own possessions
anyway. Right? Even if you have the account,
and you're gonna have your own possessions.
K? But for whatever is the group,
then you you you could pay jointly on
that,
you know, thing. But you still gotta do
calculations on your own
things
as well. Questions?
Yeah. I mean, it it it it is
better to to pay the zakat al Fitr
anyway.
Okay. And like Yeah. It is better. Is,
can you give zakat to those who are
not Muslim?
No. These these categories,
zakat is for Muslims.
This is specific for Muslims.
We we give it to non Muslims but
that's called sadaqa.
And that's encouraged too, by the way.
But it's not sakat and that is haqq.
That is the right of the Muslims.
And that's important for us because we are
an Umma. We are a family. Right? We're
a nation.
And we have to sustain each other. Right?
And the poor amongst us have certain rights
over the rich amongst us.
They don't have to make a revolution and
take over the government. Right?
We don't need these things. No coup d'etat.
You'll get your wealth
within our system if it is done properly.
Yeah.
No. The zakatil fitter is separate.
It has to be separate.
Yeah.
K? Could check online to see if there's
any any questions of anybody online? I think
I think we're getting closer.
Go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah. For that, you need to go
to,
a zakat group.
The experts I'm not an expert on zakat.
So you you need to go to a
group that that specializes in,
you know, zakat
for
that. Yeah.
The elders get I I didn't get that.
Oh, yeah. Like, giving gifts on e day
and stuff like that? Like money? Yeah.
Is that rooted in religion? And is that
different than zakat? Yeah. It's different than zakat.
And That that's just a sadaqa or gift
that you're giving, hadiyah.
You say, idihadiyah. It's it's a gift that
you're giving that's beautiful and not zakat. Because
I'm redundant. Not zakat.
It's it's a cultural thing.
It's a good thing to give to the
children and everything. It's a good but it's
a cultural thing at anytime.
It's a beautiful culture.
There's all types of cultural things in Ramadan.
You know, if any of you lived in
Muslim countries I lived in Cape Town, South
Africa,
which has a 150 Masjids, beautiful Muslim community.
And I, you know, I I I miss
Ramadan.
It's really nice.
Just before,
you know, the sun sets, the children would
run-in
between the houses
and they and they have sweets
and they bring it to you or samosas
and you make something
and you give it to them and they
take it to their house.
Right? So everybody is you know,
it's really, really nice, man. Really nice. And,
you know, you if you lived in a
Muslim country, there's a lot of beautiful things,
that come out, you know, in,
in the time of Ramadan. But these are
cultural things.
We have our own beautiful things. Our Saturday
night of stars is a really nice thing,
that we have. You know, for this society,
it's
it's unique.
Questions?
I guess you can start giving out,
the dates
if you want. Yeah. Question. I have the
last question. Yeah. Go. Ethiopia
and, I want you to address it there.
Okay.
Yes.
The prophet, you
know, they they used to pray Eid
in a in a in a Musalla,
in in a major area.
They would all pray together. That's the it's
the sunnah it's a sunnah to pray everybody
together.
Because within our within our Islamic societies, you're
like, you might have a walled okay. Okay.
It's not yet though. Don't don't eat.
You know, you you have it's like it's
like a walled,
you know, you have a walled city like
in Morocco. Morocco is a really nice example.
If you go to Morocco, Marrakesh, and places
like this, then you'll see outside the walls,
you'll see a big area.
So the whole city on Eid Day comes
out there. You don't have little masjids making
their little Eids.
The whole city comes out and you pray
behind the imam.
And that includes women on their periods.
Everybody comes out. The prophet
said everybody should witness this even if you're
not making salat.
That's a shock for some people whose cultures,
you know, restrict women.
But on Eid Day,
women should be coming out to eat.
And I'm sorry to say this. It's I
won't say which country
but, you know, you know, it's okay. You
know, but, you know, one one country that
I was said to sisters, what are you
doing on e day?
And they said, making samosas.
Because my husband's samosa is gotta be hot
and fresh when he comes back from Salat.
Right? Their whole day is cooking.
But the sunnah is for them to witness
the Eid salat.
Every even if they're not,
you know, on their even if they're not
praying.
Witness to Eid salat then you don't you
just don't make the salat with the people.
So women should be involved in this, especially
EIT.
Should you know, and and that's a practice
that, you know, is part of the sunnah,
you know, is part of the liberating, you
know, aspect, you know, of, you know, the
Islamic sunnah.
No. Any other general questions
that we
have?
Yeah.
It is the point that you decide.
Because it is you know, if your wealth
is if that accumulated wealth is in your
possession for 1 year.
So you have to decide on a time,
you know, when you pay your zakat.
And it's and it's recommended. It's not necessarily
part of the sunnah, but it is recommended,
you know,
use Ramadan
because that's the time we're thinking about takat
and giving anyway.
So use that so you don't forget.
But if that wealth was in your possession
for for a
year,
you're supposed to pay
on that wealth.
Right.
Yeah. So how do we determine if they're,
like, discussing what this is gonna probably use
Yeah. I mean, this this is getting, you
know, a little bit more detailed. You need,
like, someone who's more expert in this. But,
you know, the basic things that you use
to, you know, to earn your wealth, to
drive the car that you drive, the house
that you live in, this is not accumulated
wealth.
It's it's the it's the the accumulated wealth.
Not that's not moving like.
That's the one that you're paying us a
cat on.
But you need to ask a Mufti and
expert on this question. I'm not giving you
a definitive answer. But that's the general principle.
That's the general principle. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, today, we have our accounts
and whatnot.
And, but, you know, the best thing is
to say say, for instance, if 25th Ramadan
was your date, then you look and you
say, how much do I have in in
my accounts?
So you just get the total of it,
you know, and then you mark it down
in your calendar. That's what I had, you
know, at this point. And then when the
year goes around,
you know, you you see, like, what do
I have this time?
And you see that's that was in my
account,
you know, so I'll pay on that
Just to make it easy, because this can
get complicated, but just to make it easy.
The easiest way to do,
you look at your accounts, you look at
the things,
You know, pay a little extra. It's okay.
Just to be safe. Right? It's not wrong
because you're giving in the path of Allah.
Right? So so it it it's not wrong
to give in the path
of Allah.
Yeah. If they're not able to pay, then
it's okay.
It's okay.
The thing is though is is that, you
know, when it comes to zakat al fitta,
the the purifying of your fast, if that
person has enough to sustain themselves even a
couple days,
you know, try to pay the zakat al
fita.
That's what everybody should should should try to
pay, unless the person totally doesn't have anything,
because that's purifying your fast. Right?
But Zakat al Mal, unless you have and
that's a section that we went over before,
you have to have at least $14,100,
you know, in in accumulated wealth. That's the
nissau. Then you pay Zakat.
But Zakat will fitter for you fast. Everybody
should try, you know, to do that, unless
they're totally out of it and they can't
do it.
Is the time in?
Some water over here? Yeah. We need some
water over here.
Okay.
For a year. Yeah.
It it has to be paid. It might
not be paid right away,
but it's but you gotta make sure that
that that it yeah. It's paid.