The Philosophy of Zakāt — Page 31
THE PH ILOSOPHY OF ZAKAT 31 known immoralities. The true remedy for this is spending the wealth suitably and generously. This puts an end to niggardliness, selfishness dies out and instead of mutual enmity a spirit of love is born and this mutual love is the true foundation of the hi ghest moral behavior and makes men treat each other with love and kindness. The net result of all this is that man becomes virtue personified and this is what is called the training of the soul. ‘Zak ā t is also the best remedy for all social and national necessities. This is because social administration cannot become stable unless it is backed by strong and stable finances. Because with sound finance the government is in the position of looking af ter all the highest or the lowest requirements of the administration and fulfilling all the needs of the society equitably, and the poor, the needy, the weak, the orphans and the widows do not stand in need of going a - begging from others and are saved from all this humiliation and that the government may be able to look after them properly. All these duties of the government can be duly performed only when, along with the other resources, the government could safely depend upon the revenue obtained through Zak ā t from the rich and the wealthy. ’ (Hujjatullah - il - Balighah: Vol. 2, Ch. Zakat) The M eans O f S ustaining and H elping T he P oor Zak ā t is the best means of assisting and providing sustenance to the poor of the nation. Through this the poor and the have -