Which is the most important factor of Zakat in Islam

Muslim charitable foundations collect Zakat, a crucial element for Muslims who believe in Allah. Therefore, every affluent person should pay their due to charity. Otherwise, he will be considered a sinner. While giving the Zakat, some conditions need to be followed: “He must have some money or assets more than basic needs.” “It is not necessary that somebody has money only after the death of another person.” “The donor must know what he is giving.” If these conditions are fulfilled, it becomes obligatory for every rich person to give 2.5% annual savings as Zakat for different types of wealth offered by Allah- Quran. This is to be shown whether it is saved or not. If Zakat is not given, one must take the penalty for this sin. So there are two types of sentences: first, if you have something which can provide, that should be returned. Else 2nd penalty is that Zakat will have to be paid. There are other conditions too for paying Zakat: “A Muslim can pay Zakat himself.” “One who pays his share of Zakat doesn’t get any reward.” “It’s better to seek help from others to pay your Zakat.” People can also help poor and needy people by giving interest-free loans. If the amount lent by a person is significant, he can pay Zakat from its total amount. But if it’s less than 2.5% of the money lent, then the Zakat for this year will be waived off by paying its penalty to be poor and needy people. Giving Zakat is one of the essential elements in Islam. This is one of the five pillars. All Muslims worldwide know that it is compulsory to give 2.5% of our wealth if we have more than a certain amount saved up at the end of every lunar year (i.e. Ramadan). Despite this, some people are negligent about giving Zakat and do not give it for different reasons such as ignorance, negligence or lack of understanding about its rulings and rules even though they see others giving it. They think their money will be wasted if they give it away instead of eating, drinking, having fun with friends, etc. However, Zakat is obligatory towards everyone who has had their wealth stored up over the Nisab (i.e. the minimum amount of savings which makes Zakat and Sadaqah required upon it). The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Islam is built on five pillars: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad (saw) is His messenger; performing Salah; fasting during Ramadan; paying Zakat; and Hajj to the House.” [Sahih Bukhari] First, we should know what Nisab means as it has become a significant problem for some people who want to give their Zakat but do not have anything more than the Nisab requirement. Below are two statements from two different schools of thought in Islam plus a fatwa from Malaysia about this issue: “Nisab (minimum amount of money and gold that gives one the right to give Zakat) is different for gold and silver. For gold, nisab is 85 grams; it increases to 200 grams if one’s wealth reaches 595 grams; then it remains at 200 grams until one’s wealth reaches 925 grams, at which point nib becomes 225 grams. That means, as long as your wealth does not exceed 20 ounces or 507.24 gram based on today’s price, you do not have to pay Zakat even if it is more than Nisab limit.” [The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta: Fatwa number: 1094] “If a person’s wealth exceeds the Nisab at any time during a lunar year, he must pay Zakat on all his wealth for that year.” [Mufti Yusuf Sacha: An Introduction to Zakat] “The Nisab of gold and silver is 20 mithqal or 85 grams. Therefore, if one owns this amount in just one form, it is sufficient even if it is different. On the other hand, if one has more than 20 mithqals but does not have any of them in the form of dinars and dirhams (which equals 82.735 grams), then he should consider himself poor and pay Zakat.”