Understanding 'jihad' for distribution of zakah

The most important form of jihad today is serious, targeted, organized work to rebuild the Islamic society and state, and to implement the Islamic way of life in the political, cultural, and economic arenas. This is certainly the most deserving area of zakah, writes renowned Muslim scholar SHAYKH YUSUF AL-QARADAWI in his comprehensive work on Zakah, Fiqh-al-Zakah, the extract of which is published below.

For further reading on the subject, a newly revised and improved English edition of this book is now available locally at www.ibtbooks.com.

The seventh category of zakah distribution is expressed in the Qur’an as "fi sabilillah”—“in the way of Allah”. To whom is this share of zakah paid? The linguistic meaning of the term is quite obvious. ‘Sabil’ means way, and ‘sabilillah’ is the way that leads to pleasing Allah.

Ibn al-Athir says:
‘Sabilillah’ is general enough to cover every action or deed sincerely intended for the sake of Allah, including fulfilling religious obligations and voluntary worships and deeds. When the term ‘fi sabilillah’ is not modified, it usually means jihad (fighting for the sake of Allah), so the term often appears to be restricted to the meaning of jihad.

This analysis of the term ‘fi sabilillah’ shows two important points: first, that the term originally means every action intended solely to serve the cause of Allah, including all good deeds, individual and collective; second, that unmodified the term is commonly understood to mean fighting for the sake of Allah, since in common usage it is almost restricted to fighting for the sake of Allah.

Behind these two meanings of the term is a major difference among jurists on this seventh category of zakah distribution. All agree that fighting for the sake of Allah is included in this category; their differences centre on whether this category may also cover other good deeds intended to please Allah.

Expanding meaning of 'for the sake of Allah'

Some scholars, early and contemporary, tend to expand the meaning of the term “for the sake of Allah,” to include good deeds in general, in accordance with the literal translation of the term. Al-Razi in his commentary on the Qur’an remarks that the apparent meaning of the term fi sabilillah is not restricted to fighters.

This analysis of the term ‘fi sabilillah’ shows two important points: first, that the term originally means every action intended solely to serve the cause of Allah, including all good deeds, individual and collective; second, that unmodified the term is commonly understood to mean fighting for the sake of Allah, since in common usage it is almost restricted to fighting for the sake of Allah.

He adds:
For this reason, al-Qaffal’s explanation of the verse mentions that some jurists allow spending sadaqat (charity) on all kinds of good deeds, including supplying coffins for the deceased and building
fortifications and mosques, since “in the way of Allah” covers all these.

But al-Razi does not name these jurists, and makes no comment on his quote from al-Qaffal.

Ibn Qudamah attributes this opinion to Anas ibn Malik and al-Hasan al-Basri, who say “zakah given on bridges and highways is acceptable.”

He concludes that this statement allows expenditure on building and repairing bridges and roads from zakah, but Abū ‘Ubayd’s elucidation of the context of this statement gives it a different meaning. He explains that Muslim merchants used to pass through the ‘ushr (zakat on agriculture) officers’ booths on bridges and highways to pay dues on merchandise brought in to the country (25 percent of the
value of the merchandise).

Abū ‘Ubayd reports that some Followers, including Ibrahim and al-Sha‘bi, say it is permissible to count what is paid to those tax officers as obligated zakah. This is explicitly attributed to al-Hasan, who, Abū ‘Ubayd argues, agrees with Anas, Ibrahim, al-Shaybah, and Muhammad ibn ‘Ali.

A similar story is reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah from Anas and al-Hasan, under the title of “counting what is paid to ‘ushr (zakat on agriculture) officers as zakah”.

Ibn Qudamah’s understanding of the statement by Anas and al-Hasan is thus incorrect, since “given on bridges” means paid at bridges and not spent on bridge construction and repair.

The Ja‘fari view

The book al-Mukhtasar al-Nafi‘ explains that fi sabilillah includes everything that benefits Muslims or brings them closer to Allah, such as pilgrimage, jihad, and building irrigation systems. Some Ja‘farites say it only relates to jihad.

The author of Jawahir al-Kalam fi Sharh Shara’i‘al-Islam, a Ja‘fari encyclopaedia of jurisprudence, states that public interests such as irrigation, mosques, pilgrimage, and all good deeds are included under “in the way of Allah.” He adds:
This is the view of the majority of later scholars, supported by the implication of the term itself, since ‘sabil’ is way, and the way of Allah includes everything that pleases Allah, whether fighting for His cause or other things.

The Zaydi view

It is mentioned in al-Rawd al-Nadir, a book of Zaydi jurisprudence, that zakah must not be spent on buying coffins for the deceased or building mosques. Zaydis who allow this argue that such good deeds are included in “the way of Allah”, and although the term is often used for fighting, especially in the early eras of Islam, this popular usage must not restrict the original meaning of the term. Anything that brings one closer to Allah must be included, except when the term is restricted by qualifiers. The author of al-Bahr agrees that the term is clearly general, except when restricted by specific evidence.

The author of Sharh al-Azhar partially agrees, saying it is permissible to spend the residue of this share on the public interest of Muslims, as stated by al-Hadi. Abu Talib emphasizes, “This can be done only after satisfying the needs of the poor.”

Some commentators on Sharh al-Azhar conclude that it is not only the residue of this share that should be spent for the general interest of Muslims, but also what is left from the other seven categories.

The four schools

The four schools agree on three points: first that jihad (fighting for Allah’s sake) is definitely included in the category "fi sabilillah”.

Second, that it is lawful to give zakah to the fighters. (Spending zakah on equipment and arms is not agreed upon.)

And thirdly, that it is not permissible to spend zakah on public interests or general good deeds such as irrigation canals, dams, mosques, schools, roads and highways, and so on. These must be paid for from other state funds, such as fay’ (tribute taken from enemies without fighting) and kharaj (land tax).

Hanafites disallow the latter on the grounds that the recipients must own what is paid to them, while others disallow it on the grounds that such spending is not included in the eight permitted categories.

As for al-Kasani’s statement quoted above, it is restricted by his condition that zakah must be made owned by the recipient.

Activities included under “for the sake of Allah” today

The wars that the Companions and Followers fought were solely to help people to abandon the worship of false gods for the worship of Allah the Creator, to eradicate oppression and establish the justice of Islam. Some people think this kind of war does not happen any more and that contemporary wars in Muslim countries are merely nationalistic enterprises, having nothing to do with religion, and therefore zakah must not be given to Muslims who fight such wars.

Such thinking is utterly erroneous, because, first of all, Islamic jihad is not restricted to the wars in which the Companions fought. It is true that the campaigns fought by the Companions and Followers are unique in the history of humanity, in regard to the goals of the Muslim fighters and their moral behaviour during and after them.

But history has also witnessed many other wars in which Muslims defended their values, sacred places, and communities, which are no less sacred than the wars of the Companions and Followers,

such as the defences of Muslim lands against Mongol and Crusader aggressors. If the fighting of the Companions and Followers was for the cause of Islam, the fighting of leaders like Nur al-Din, Salah al-Din, and Qutuz was in defence of the home of Islam.

Fighting for the sake of Allah is motivated purely by the Islamic vision and directed toward making the word of Allah supreme, or defending Islam, Muslims and their homelands. Any war devoid of this spiritual content is an earthly war, whether waged by Muslims or unbelievers. Wars detached from the above goals and values cannot be financed by zakah.
-Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Jihad is obligatory in order to protect Muslim land as much as it is obligatory to protect the Islamic faith. Fighting in defence of Muslim land is legitimate Islamically, provided it is not based simply on love of a country, for a Muslim may leave the homeland of his ancestors and go live where Islam is fully implemented, as the Prophet and his Companions did by migrating from Makkah to Madinah for the sake of Allah.

The most honourable form of jihad nowadays is fighting for the liberation of Muslim land from the domination of the unbelievers, regardless of their religion or ideology. The communist, and the capitalist, the Westerner and the Easterner, Christian, Jew, pagan, or unbeliever, all are aggressors when they attack and occupy Muslim land. Fighting in defence of the home of Islam is obligatory until the enemy is driven away and Muslims are liberated.

Today, Muslim land is occupied in Palestine, Kashmir, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Western Somalia, Cyprus, Samarqand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Albania, and several other communist-occupied
countries. Declaring a sacred war to protect or liberate these Muslim lands is an Islamic obligation, and fighting for such purposes in those occupied territories is jihad in the way of Allah, for which zakah must be spent.

Not all fighting by Muslims is in the way of Allah

Having said that, it is not the case that every military action taken by Muslims is in the way of Allah, regardless of its objectives, as some believe. An essential distinction must be made between fighting for the sake of Allah, and nationalistic or class wars. Fighting for the sake of Allah is motivated purely by the Islamic vision and directed toward making the word of Allah supreme, or defending Islam, Muslims and their homelands.

Any war devoid of this spiritual content is an earthly war, whether waged by Muslims or unbelievers. Wars detached from the above goals and values cannot be financed by zakah.

Let us suppose that a group of Albanian or Central Asian communists of Muslim origin decided to fight the Soviet communists in order to liberate their homeland and establish an independent,
communist nation-state. Is such a war jihad in the way of Allah, and can zakah be spent on such a war? My answer is an emphatic ‘no’, because a Central Asian communist, though of Muslim origins,
is no better than a Russian communist, since national and racial differences are disregarded in Islam.

A war for liberation from one group of oppressors for the benefit of another group of oppressors
is not an Islamic war. Only fighting to establish the din (religion) of Allah on earth is sacred in Islam, and only this kind of war merits the sacrifice of human souls and material wealth.

Fighting for the liberation of Muslims and Muslim land from colonialism and other forms of oppression are acceptable as means to establishing Islam on earth, but fighting for the sake of liberating areas order to establish other ideologies is not recognized as jihad, and cannot be financed by zakah.

Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Hafiz reports, via his own chain, that ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Na‘m said:
I was sitting with ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, when a woman came and said, “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, my husband, in his last will, says his wealth should be spent in the way of Allah.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “Let it be spent as he wished, in the way of Allah.” ‘Abd al-Rahman said, “You did not answer her question.” ‘Abdullah said, “What do you want me to tell her? Should I tell her to give the money to these troops that destroy land and cut off roads?” I said, “What would you tell her then?” ‘Abdullah replied, “I would tell her to give it to righteous people, to pilgrims to the sacred House of Allah. They are the comers to al-Rahman, they are the comers to al-Rahman; they
are the comers to al-Rahman.”

Ibn ‘Umar hesitated to describe the wars of his time as being “in the way of Allah,” although the troops then had only one banner, one slogan, and one direction, that of Islam.

What would Ibn ‘Umar say about armies of our time, that do not even mention the name of Allah or the word Islam, armies whose men do not pray or worship Allah, and whose generals are lost in drinking and immorality?

What would he say about armies whose ideologies are based on secularism, which has no place for Allah, His Messenger, or His Sacred Book?

The group reports from Abu Musa:
The Messenger of Allah was asked about a man who fights out of bravery, a man who fights out of patriotism, and a man who fights out of pride, to be seen [by men]—which of these is for the
sake of Allah? The Prophet answered, “He who fights for the word of Allah to be supreme is for the sake of Allah.”

This Hadith provides the criteria to distinguish between jihad and non-Islamic war, between the way of Allah and the way of aggression. The way of Allah aims at making the din of Allah supreme.

Re-establishment of the Islamic state is jihad

The best way to spend the share of “in the way of Allah” today is, as the reformist Rashid Rida suggests, to establish an association of Islamic activists to collect zakah and spend it to re-establish the Islamic state.

The most important form of jihad today is serious, targeted, organized work to rebuild the Islamic society and state, and to implement the Islamic way of life in the political, cultural, and economic arenas. This is certainly the most deserving area of zakah.

He suggests that jihad for establishing the Islamic state is even more important than jihad to protect it, and one of the ways to re-establish the Islamic state is to promote the call for Islam and defend its ideology, when defending it by the sword is not needed.

The most important form of jihad today is serious, targeted, organized work to rebuild the Islamic society and state, and to implement the Islamic way of life in the political, cultural, and economic arenas. This is certainly the most deserving area of zakah.

Armies are normally financed by the state’s regular resources. This was the case in the early Islamic state, which financed its army from fay’ and kharaj. It is also the case today that modern armies are provided for from the government’s general budget. Financing a regular army requires huge resources that by far exceed the proceeds of zakah. If modern armies were to depend on zakah, they would take all of its proceeds and still need more.

I believe, therefore, that cultural, educational and informational jihad in the way of Allah should be given priority today, as long as such jihad is a purely Islamic effort that aims at re-establishing the Islamic state. Examples of activities that desperately need finance from zakah in order to serve the cause of making the word of Allah supreme include building centres for the call to Islam, to provide correct and pure Islamic information to men and women throughout the world, and establishing Islamic centres, even in Muslim countries, to provide Islamic education and training, and protect Muslim youth from deviation, agnosticism and behavioural corruption. Such centres are crucial, for they prepare Muslim youth to support Islam and resist the aggression of its enemies.

Another example is the establishment of a purely Islamic newspaper, which would provide guidance to Muslim men and women in their daily lives and promote Islamic political and social awareness. Publication of Islamic books is yet another area of jihad in the way of Allah, for it is crucial to explain and promote the treasures of this religion as a better way of life. Yet another example of jihad is to provide full-time workers in the way of Allah. These and similar activities deserve the share of zakah for the sake of Allah.