What is Zakath?
Zakath is the third pillar of Islam. There are different opinion in it being a mere Worship as it does not require puberty of the performer. Zakath is a compulsory payment on Muslims who possess the Nisab the Zakathable amount of wealth, on a regular basis performed once in a year. It is a practice of charitable giving from his wealth for eight categories who are in need of financial assistance and finding difficult to make an earning.
The Allah the Almighty has made this material obligation to bring about the economic justice by preserving socio-economic balances, achieving adequate employment for all members of the society, while preserving the wealth and income of the people, securing economic satisfaction of the society in general and promoting general welfare while guaranteeing the basic needs of its individuals.
Paying Your Zakath Collectively
The purpose of the Baithuz Zakath system is not accomplished by merely paying it to a receiver which could result to concentrate the zakath in few hands. Rather there it is primly important that benefit shall reach those who need to achieve justice, equality and welfare of the society and circulate in the society as widely as possible.
The lack of focus on the Baithuz Zakath as a strategic tool and resource has greatly caused to undermine the efficiency of the Society. The main focus of this Baithuz Zakth system is to ensure the minimization of inequality, Formalizing and increasing the efficiency of the zakath distributed, enabling everyone to get what is rightfully his.
The well-organized Collective Baithuz Zakath system is a major solution to achieve all these objectives. But as the Zakath is considered is a worship and all its norms specified by the Sunnah. Hence it is not lawful to make major changes contradict the major rules of Islamic Jurisprudence law.
Even though Zakath can be successfully used to fill the needs as it is happened symbolically or actually at the time of Umar rali’s Khilafath by Muaz ibnu Jabal and Umar Ibnu Abdul Aziz and his subordinate Saeed Ibnu Muad who sent to govern Africa then finally no eligible receiver came forward to accept being distributed it among eligible in the right manner and they were well acquainted to the field. Also it is said that reason for non-acceptance of Zakath by people of Umar Ibnu Abdul Azeez is his tharbiya.
The benefits of Collective Zakath Distribution system never can be compared with the individual Zakath Distribution. Zakath is the only worship that a third person appointed to asses and accept for the final execution. In jurisprudence view only exterior wealth is subject to compulsory collective Zakath. Even the exterior Zakath is not subject to collective Zakath in the absence of the Khilafath mandate.