Blessings of Khilafat — Page 118
118 Umar ra proposed to reconcile with those who had declined to pay Zakat. He was of the view that such people would gradually get reformed and that the war should first be waged against the other apostates. He thought that the need of the hour was to crush the false claimants of Prophethood, since they were the source of the greatest trouble. The answer that Hadrat Abu Bakr ra gave on this occasion was that if people do not pay that much Zakat that they used to pay to the Holy Prophet sa —even if it be so small an amount as the young of a goat or a rope to tie the camels—he would wage war against them, and that he would fight against them alone if all others abandoned him and the beasts of jungle attacked him accompanied by every single person who recanted. In short, Hadrat Abu Bakr ra ascribed so much importance to the injunction of Zakat that he thought it absolutely wise to treat its defaulter like a disbeliever. Alas, there are just a few among the Muslims who give serious attention to it. I have estimated that if we calculate the Zakat which is paid by the Ahmadiyya Jam a ‘at, it amounts to around a hundred thousand rupees. This is because almost everyone possesses some amount of gold these days. The Promised Messiah as has said that the things on which the government levies tax do not fall under the articles on which Zakat is to be paid, since the government already collects tax on them. But I am of the view that the tax that the government levies on agricultural land is less than the amount that has been fixed by the Shariah. Therefore, where government tax is less than the amount fixed by the Shariah, the concerned person must pay the remaining amount as Zakat. For instance, should government collect land revenue [of five rupees] for a part of land in somebody’s possession whose one-tenth portion amounts to ten rupees, the owner is under