Not everyone who needs financial help is zakat eligible. This is one key point of difference between zakat and sadaqah.
Whereas many charitable acts can fall into the sadaqah category, not all forms of giving fall under zakat. To better understand what falls under the zakat category, it helps to familiarize oneself with who can receive zakat.
In Surah At-Tawba, God explicitly declares eight groups of people who are zakat eligible.
Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed for it, and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves], and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler — an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.”
Listed out, the zakat eligible would be:
The poor
The needy
Zakat administrators/distributors
Those whose hearts are to be reconciled
Those in bondage (slaves and captives)
The debt-ridden
In the cause of God
The wayfarer
The poor could mean a low-income or indigent person, whereas the needy, meaning someone who is in difficulty. Those whose hearts are to be reconciled could refer to new Muslims and friends of the Muslim community. The wayfarer can refer to someone stranded or traveling with few resources.
Scholars differ on what defines “in the cause of God.”
On the surface, zakat seems like a simple enough concept. Muslims give a percentage of their unused wealth to those in need. However, examining zakat in greater depth, the wisdom behind this obligation reveals itself through a series of interconnected truths, the benefits of which reach farther than the individual who pays his or her zakat. These benefits can transform individuals, communities and society at large.
Just like there are categories of zakat-eligible individuals, there are also those who are zakat ineligible. Although Islam encourages charity to all who need it, zakat itself has special restrictions. Learn more about who zakat cannot be given to here.
Zakat Foundation of America provides humanitarian aid to people of various faiths, creeds, and nationalities and ethnicities. It delivers short- and long-term aid with dignity to those who need it.
