The Pillar And the Bridge

“ALLAH DOES NOT ACCEPT THE PRAYER OF A PERSON WHO DOES NOT PAY THEIR ZAKAT. ALLAH HAS BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER, SO DO NOT SEPARATE THEM!” (Abu Nuaym, Hilyatu’l-Awliya, IX, 250)

There is a strong connection between salah and zakat. In a way, salah represents ibadahs of bodily nature while zakat represents those of monetary nature. Salah has the distinctive feature of purifying the soul while zakat is emphasized to have a cleansing effect on one’s wealth. Salah confers individual maturity while zakat confers development on a social scale.

Some ayahs in the Qur’an al-Karim mention salah and zakat in conjunction. Twenty-seven ayahs give commands regarding salah and zakat in the same reference while seven ayahs touch upon the concepts of salah and infaq (giving charitably) in a conjoint fashion. In the initial ayahs of the surah Al-Baqarah, the muttaqis are defined as people who believe in the unseen, establish their prayers and donate from what has been given to them. (Al-Baqara, 3)

As reported by Umar Ibn al-Khattab (radiyallahu anh), Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

“Islam is to testify than none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, that you observe salah, pay zakat, observe sawm (fasting) of Ramadan and perform Hajj (pilgrimage of the Ka’bah), provided you have resources of making journey to it.” (Muslim, Iman, 1)

The glad tidings in the ayah

Several descriptions used in the Qur’an al-Karim for those who fulfill duties of salah and zakat are as follows:

• They are assured against fear and sadness:

“Surely those who believe and do good deeds, and establish salah (prayer) and pay zakat will have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” (Al-Baqarah, 277)

• They will gain immense rewards in the afterlife:

“-as well as those observing salah and paying zakat, and those believing in Allah and the Last Day. To them we shall give a great reward.” (An-Nisa, 162)

• Their flaws and mistakes will be expunged and they will be admitted into Jannah:

“If you establish salah, and pay zakat, and believe in My Messengers, and hold them in reverence, and advance to Allah a goodly loan, I shall certainly write off your evil deeds, and I shall certainly admit you into Gardens beneath which rivers flow.” (Al-Maidah, 12)

• They are friends of Allah:

“Your only friend is Allah, then His Messenger and those who believe, who establish salah and pay zakat and bow before Allah.” (Al-Maidah, 55)

• They are on the right path:

“In fact, the mosques of Allah are built-up only by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and those who establish salah and pay zakat and who fear none but Allah. So, it is hoped that they are to be among those on the right path.” (At-Tawbah, 18)

• They are blessed with Allah’s mercy:

“Establish salah and pay zakat and obey the messenger, so that you may be favored with mercy.” (At-Tawbah, 71; An-Nur, 56)

• The Qur’an is a guidance and good news for them:

“...a guidance and good news to the believers who establish salah and pay zakat and who have faith in the Hereafter.”(An-Naml, 2-3)

The commanding of salah and zakat

Salah and zakat are among the acts of worship commanded to previous ummahs. In this sense, the Qur’an al-Karim tells us that Prophet Ismail (alayhissalam) enjoined salah and zakat upon his family (Al-Maryam, 55), and that salah and zakat were enjoined upon Prophet Ibrahim and his sons (Al-Anbiya, 73). Furthermore, the account of Prophet Isa (alayhissalam) talking about salah and zakat being commanded to him while he was in his crib (Al-Maryam, 31) and the fact that children of Israel were ordered to observe salah and zakat (Al-Baqarah, 83; Al-Maidah, 12) can be found in the Qur’an al-Karim.

Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), who describes salah as the pillar of the religion (Bayhaki, Shuabu’l-Iman, V, 20) and zakat as its bridge, gave the following instructions to Muadh bin Jabal (radiyallahu anh) when he assigned him as the governor of Yemen:

“Invite the people to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I am Allah's Messenger, and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in every day and night, and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pay the zakat from their property and it is to be taken from the wealthy among them and given to the poor.” (Bukhari, Zakat, 1; Muslim, Iman, 29)

Those who separate salah from zakat

Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) clarifies that those who shrink from giving zakat will find that their salah is rejected:

“Allah does not accept the prayer of a person who does not pay their zakat. Allah has brought them together, so do not separate them!” (Abu Nuaym, Hilyatu’l-awliya, IX, 250)

Certain badawi tribes who entered into the fold of Islam after Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) departed from this world had not yet completely warmed up to Islam and announced that, while they were going to perform salah, they were not going to give anything in zakat. So, Abu Bakr (radiyallahu anh) declared war against them. When Umar ibn Khattab (radiyallahu anh) said that it would not be right to wage war against those who say “la ilaha illallah,” the caliph replied: “By Allah I will fight whoever differentiates between Salat and Zakat. For indeed, Zakat is the right due upon wealth. And by Allah! If they withhold even (camel) tethers which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) I will fight them for withholding it.” (Tirmidhi, Iman, 1)

Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, who touches upon this matter in his tafsir, conveys the following:

“It is said that zakat is the bridge of Islam. Whoever crosses it finds salvation. Whoever abandons it perishes. After Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) passed away, the ahl al-riddah (those who renounced Islam) said “We will pray salah, but as for zakat, by Allah we will not allow our property to be plundered!” In response, Abu Bakr (radiyallahu anh) said, “By Allah, I will not differentiate between the two things which Allah has unified! By Allah, if they refuse to give the zakat (even the tethers by which they tied their animals) that Allah and His Messenger made fard, we will fight them!” (Tabari, Jamiu’l-Bayan, XXI, 431)

All the commands of our noble religion of Islam are intended to build up the individual and society upon the basis of goodness and to enrich their existence. Although salah may appear to be an act of the individual, it is an ibadah with a powerful impact that affects the social structure. Similarly, despite how zakat aims to consolidate social welfare, it also incorporates many benefits for the individual. One of our great thinkers who points out the individual and social aspects of salah and zakat makes the following observation: “A person who performs salah needs not the guidance of psychology and a society who gives the zakat has no use for the direction sociology can provide.”

In this day and age, one reaches the inevitable realization that the peace and prosperity of humanity, and its salvation, are only possible through submitting to Islam when one evaluates and contemplates the current trajectory of the world. All of the actions and deeds commanded to us by Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), every interdiction He has prescribed is in order to ensure the peace and prosperity that humanity needs. Salah, the principal command among the divine commandments, is the pillar of the religion and zakat is the bridge extending from this world towards the afterlife.

Abdülkadir Alioğlu