Zakat is not just "being charitable." It’s a system designed so vulnerable people are not abandoned

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]I've just paid my zakat for the year, and I wanted to talk to you about it.

[00:00:04]You might think that zakat just means general charity, but actually it's a bit more complex than that. Zakat is actually the third pillar of Islam.

[00:00:14]After the testimony of faith and after prayer, zakat is the next pillar. It's an extremely important obligation upon all eligible Muslims, which is any Muslim who has a wealth above a certain threshold. A portion of that wealth must go to specific groups of people mentioned in the Quran, which is mainly the poor and the needy. Not every charity qualifies for zakat. What I mean by that is you can't just donate money to any charity and call it zakat. And the money that you give in zakat has to actually reach the people that you intend to help. It's best to physically give um zakat to people in need, physically give it to them. But [snorts] a lot of people give to charities, and a lot of eligible charities will have separate donations for zakat and general donations. For me personally, I split my zakat this year. Part of it went towards providing medical aid in war-torn areas.

[00:01:18]There are people right now with horrific injuries and no healthcare. There is a lack of medication, there is a lack of medical equipment. They are struggling to survive day to day, even with minor injuries, and their level of need is extreme. The other part of my zakat I donated to a local food bank here local to me in the UK. And that part is really important to talk about, because in Islam your local community matters. The default is is that your zakat should be given to your local area and the people around you that need it, unless there's a genuine crisis elsewhere that's even more severe. Islam doesn't teach us to ignore poverty right in front of us, and the level of poverty here in the UK is rising exponentially. Saying that, if overseas there are wars or famine, displacement, children going without medical care, then yes, the majority scholarly opinion on this is that you can send zakat to help, and actually it might even be preferred if the need is severe. As a Muslim, I'm I feel privileged that I'm in a position to give zakat. May Allah accept it from all of us, and I think it's one of the most beautiful parts of Islam. It ensures that the vulnerable people around us are not forgotten, and it's not optional generosity. Those in need genuinely have a right over our wealth.