Scholars
Zakat
Zakat: Islam's third pillar — the poor's rightful share in the wealthy's money: two and a half percent of surplus wealth once it reaches the nisab threshold and a Hijri year has passed. It goes to the poor, the needy, the debtors, in God's cause and three other classes the Qur'an named. It is not charity to be thanked for but a financial devotion the community stands on: Medina's state once collected it into the treasury, and today it is paid at the same rate everywhere. Its very name means purification and growth — it cleanses wealth of what is wrong, grows its blessing, and ties the heart to society. It is also the practical lesson of equality: that wealth is not absolute ownership but a trust, and that mutual rights in society are written by revelation's own hand.