The 8 categories of Zakat
The Poor
Those in need
Administrators
Those whose hearts need to be reconciled
Victims of slavery
The debtors
For the sake of God
Stranded travelers
The key to success
Zakat is one of the keys to success, both in the world and in the hereafter. Along with the other pillars of Islam, Zakat has the power to encourage and support the sustainable development of our community
Purification and growth
Linguistically, Zakat means purification and growth. Zakat is the instrument with which Allah (swt) has favored us to purify our souls spiritually and get rid of our deficiencies. Zakat strengthens faith and enables society to develop spiritually, economically and socially.
The objectives
Zakat has an inner and an outer dimension: The inner dimension suppresses the ego, helping the Muslim overcome things like selfishness and greed. The outer dimension includes removing obstacles for individuals and providing opportunities for society as a whole to flourish
How is the power of Zakat expressed?
As long as Zakat is seen as a charity spent on the basis of personal preferences, in remote locations and only for the benefit of the poor, its great potential will not be realized. The Swiss Foundation for Zakat (FSZ) enables us to join forces at the local level in accordance with the spirit of zakat and to spend zakat in a balanced way in the eight established categories mentioned in the Quran (9:60).
Our strategy is based on the famous hadith of Mu’adh ibn Jabal (Bukhari and Muslim). The Prophet (saw) chose a great task for Mu’adh. Because of his knowledge, eloquence and reliability, the Prophet (saw) sent him to Yemen to invite his people to Islam. He asked Mu’adh to do this in four stages. The third step was to proclaim that Allah had ordained Zakat on their wealth and that it should be taken from their rich and given to their poor. Thus, poverty was eliminated (see the History of Zakat here ).
This hadith shows that it is possible to create a strong and prosperous community if we use and distribute Zakat in the right way. The Swiss Zakat Foundation follows the clear instructions of the Prophet (saw).
The DNA of SZF
How we do it
Local
True to our Tradition, we distribute Zakat at the local level
Centralized
We make Zakat more powerful by centralizing it
Balanced
We distribute Zakat in a balanced way across the 8 categories
We join forces
We centralize Zakat, as it was in the days of the Prophet (saw) and the many generations that followed. For Zakat is not only an individual matter, but a matter of the whole community. Zakat makes the society united, as if it were one family. The strong complement the weak and the rich help the poor.
We focus on Switzerland
The teachings of the four main schools of law show that spending Zakat in one’s own community is the priority. The wisdom behind this is that the community helps each other and thus develops on a collective level. A person cannot be a [true] believer if he fills his stomach while his neighbor is hungry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari).
We distribute Zakat in a balanced way
Contrary to what many people think, Zakat is not only for the poor. Zakat should be spent in a balanced manner among the eight established categories mentioned in the Quran (9:60). Only in this way can it provide a complete and integral response to the challenges we face.
What do you want to do next?
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