WHAT IS NAWAIB (SUPPLEMENTARY ALMS FOR EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES)?

Though comprising several meanings such as substitution, disaster, catastrophe and misfortune, nawaib is the name given to the gains acquired in addition to zakat during extraordinary circumstances such as the dispatch of troops, maintaining national security and s o on. As the designated nisab (the minimum wealth required to be eligible for zakat) is the very minimum of zakat, and as there is no set maximum, it is evident that when the necessity for supplementary funds arises, the tax rate may increase. This verdict can also easily be extracted from the overall message of the Qur’an, and it finds corroboration in the very practice of God’s Messenger (upon whom be peace). For instance, the Noble Messenger accepted donations for the Medina Treasury in preparation for military campaigns as exemplified in the Tabuk Campaign. 23 Those wholeheartedly wanting to bequeath their entire possessions were not dissuaded during the prelude to Tabuk; however, during times of relative harmony, even the wealthiest people such as Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, could only have the maximum of a third of their possessions accepted by the Messenger of God (upon whom be peace).24