ZAKAT BRINGS ONE CLOSER TO GOD

The minimum amount of zakat and its specific places of disbursement have unequivocally been delineated in the Qur’an. The person, through zakat, enters a perennially blissful path, attaining proximity to God, an aspect eloquently illustrated in the following Hadith Qudsi (the wording is the Prophet’s, but the meaning belongs to God):

My servant cannot draw near Me with a more pleasant act than performing obligatory deeds. With supererogatory deeds, he will come so close to Me that I will become fond of him. And once I become fond of him, I will be his ears that hear, eyes that see, hands that seize and feet that walk. If he beseeches Me, I will grant his wish. If he seeks refuge in Me, I will protect him.1

Zakat, a deed of distinguished virtue, elevates a person spiritually to a position of closer proximity to God, through the development of admirable traits, mainly generosity and benevolence. As understood from several hadiths of the Noble Prophet (upon whom be peace), generosity carries a person away from vices, thus taking him closer to God. “The generous is close to God, to paradise, and to society and distant from hell. The miser is remote from God and from society and close to hell. A generous ignorant is closer to God than an educated miser.”2