Description

The word zakat means “purity, development, blessings and praise” but in practice it refers to alms – money or food that is given to the poor [1]. Zakat al-mal (or zakah al maal) can be defined as the obligation upon every Muslim man and woman having certain amount of wealth kept for a (lunar) year, to pay a certain amount to deserving people. Zakat is therefore the amount to be paid (obligation) calculated upon the savings (nisab) held for a year and to be paid to the needy people whether in monetary terms or in the form of commodities.