What’s the Difference Between Sadaqa and Zakat?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question:
What’s the Difference Between Sadaqa and Zakat?
Answer:
Assalamu alaykum,
Thank you for your important question.
Zakat
(Muhammad Shirbini Khatib:) Lexically, zakat means growth, blessings, an increase in good, purification, or praise. In the Sacred Law, it is the name for a particular amount of property that must be paid to certain kinds of recipients under the conditions mentioned below. It is called zakat because one’s wealth grows through the blessings of giving it and the prayers of those who receive it, and because it purifies its giver of sin and extolls him by testifying to the genuineness of his faith (al-Iqna’ fi hall Alfaz Abi Shuja’ (y7), 1.183).) [The Reliance of the Traveller, h1.0]
Sadaqa
Sadaqa means voluntary charity, but see the full meaning as explained by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani here:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/zakat/what-is-the-difference-between-ongoing-charity-and-regular-charity/
I have included some details regarding charity from The Reliance of the Traveller, “Giving voluntary charity is recommended at all times; especially during Ramadan, before praying for something one needs, (0: when there is an eclipse, illness, or journey) and at all noble times and places (0: e.g. times such as the first ten days of Dhul Hijja or the days of ‘Eid, and places such as Mecca or Medina).“
“It is recommended to give away in charity everything one owns that is in excess (0: of personal expenses and the expenses of those ones is obliged to support), provided one can be patient with the resultant poverty. (0: But if one cannot be patient, it is offensive to give away what is in excess of one’s needs.). “
“It is permissible to give charity to a non-Muslim (n: but not zakat, as above at h8.24).} [The Reliance of the Traveller, pp.275-276]
Please consider taking a course on zakat:
https://academy.seekersguidance.org/enrol/index.php?id=203
https://seekersguidance.org/zakatcalculator/
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
