Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterDo the poor have a right to the wealth of the rich in other than Zakah?
Question
Do the poor have a right in the wealth of the rich? Are we reckoned for the neighbor if he is insolvent and we did not help him? I think it is shameful that a needy person exists amidst a group that claims to be religious.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
Allaah The Almighty Prescribed a right to the poor in the money of the rich so He Enjoined the rich person to pay Zakah. Jurists differed whether there is a right other than Zakah in money such as feeding the hungry, helping the poor and the like. Some of them said that there is no right in wealth other than Zakah. Others said that there are rights other than Zakah citing as evidence the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And those within whose wealth is a known right * For the petitioner and the deprived.} [Quran 70:24-25]
An-Nawawi 
said in Sharh Muslim about this verse: “The opinion of the majority of scholars is: the intended meaning is Zakah and there is no right in wealth except Zakah. Other than this it is only recommended to perfect good manners. Others said that this verse is abrogated by enjoining Zakah. A group of scholars including Ash-Sha‘bi, Al-Hasan, Taawoos, ‘Ataa’, Masrooq and others 
viewed that this verse is precise and there is a right in wealth other than Zakah like freeing captives, feeding the needy, helping in times of hardship and maintaining ties of kinship.” Summarized
Based on this opinion, an insolvent poor person has a right to the wealth of the affluent rich. This is a collective obligation. Shaykh Al-Islam said: "Feeding the hungry, clothing the undressed and the like are collective obligations. If someone believes that most likely no one would perform a certain role, he should perform it.
This is more confirmed if he is a neighbor. The Muslim neighbor has two rights; the right of Islam and the right of neighborliness. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “He who sleeps full while his neighbor is hungry is not considered a believer.” [Al-Haakim and others; Al-Albaani: Saheeh].” He said in As-Silsilah As-Saheehah: “This Hadeeth is clear proof that it is forbidden for the wealthy to leave his neighbors hungry. He should offer them what eliminates their hunger and what clothes them if they are undressed and the same applies to other necessities. The Hadeeth indicates that there is a right in money other than Zakah. The rich should not think that their liability is freed if they pay the Zakah of their money annually. Rather, there are other rights in urgent circumstances and cases that they should perform. Otherwise, they would be included in the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Threatens Saying (what means): {And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allaah - give them tidings of a painful punishment. The Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and seared therewith will be their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, [it will be said], “This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard.”}” [Quran 9:34-35].”
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
