Zakat Should Be the New Global Welfare System
Introduction:
Zakat should be adopted around the world as a welfare system. Zakat is the Islamic wealth
distribution practice. Zakat was mandated upon Muslims in the second year of hijra after prophet
Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬migrated to Madinah (Zakat.SG, 2022). Zakat is calculated by donating 2.5% of any
possession that holds value and that isn’t being used towards your living expenses. Zakat has many
benefits and if integrated correctly it is possible to accomplish socioeconomic justice on a global scale
assuming governments decide to cooperate. Zakat is mandatory for all Muslims regardless of their
financial situation. Adopting zakat in any country could decrease the financial gap between the people
and ensure that everyone is living above the poverty line. And if governments cooperate on zakat, it could
ensure not only wealth distribution but also power distribution between countries which could help
eliminate issues related to land and security of the people due to the equilibrium that the countries would
be experiencing with each other because of cooperation as well as satisfaction of the people.
Meeting everyone's needs (Body paragraph 1):
Zakat can help ensure that everyone is living above the poverty line. There are many important
jobs in society that are underpaid, but some of these jobs are essential for society to function. Zakat could
ensure that these jobs are still fulfilled while still making sure that the workers behind them are still able
to live well and fulfill all their means (Mohammad F., 1991). While zakat may distribute wealth it still
does it fairly, so that if a person's work is harder than others, they will still get the same compensation as
they would they also wouldn’t experience any hindrance with their quality of life since the amount their
giving away for zakat hasn’t been used and is unlikely to be used due to the small amount that their giving
away of the unused asset. Zakat is more likely to increase a person's quality of living within a community.
Money or anything that holds value that isn’t being used is useless in terms of the economic state of a
community; its value is not being circulated; therefore, it is not contributing any good to anyone, not even
the owner (Mohammad F. , 1991). With zakat in place unused assets can circulate within a community
hence not only has an asset been proven useful to the community but it also boosted the economy even by
a small amount; assuming everyone does this the financial power of nation would drastically increase
since no asset or commodity is not contributing to the overall state of a country.
Encouraging wealth distribution:
Zakat as mentioned in the Quran before is that it purifies the soul as well as removes the evil from
the money. This may seem very abstract and not supported by any physical evidence. However, a study
done by Indiana university shows that giving to charity can help develop character by promoting personal
characteristics such as generosity, compassion, as well as empathy (Rolland, 2020). As mentioned before
Zakat can improve the economic status of a community, and because of zakat it can also help strengthen
the bond between the people within a community which can lead to less gangs if there were any as well as
the need of drug trafficking since the vast quantity of drug dealers are forced into such positions due to
financial instability (King & Mauer, 2003). And all kinds of benefits can be derived from this and
introducing the argument that zakat has all kinds of unforeseen positive side effects.
Difficulties:
The implementation of the Zakat system on a large scale may be difficult to achieve since Zakat is an
Islamic doctrine and there are many nations that are Islamophobic which can make it difficult for the rule
to be implemented. Zakat can help provide for people, but in some cases, zakat can get an individual lazy.
Where they may rely on zakat and not feel the need to work. The individual is not contributing anything
to help society or doing anything useful, he is simply just wasting resources. This is a potential problem
with zakat, where a person's income of zakat gets him lazy and not want to work (Ismail, Jallow, Abbas,
2020). Zakat can also have limited impact on income inequality, which is why while it's important to have
zakat it is still necessary that people have stable jobs with a good income zakat would ensure that people
are living above the poverty line but depending on the circumstances of a certain community that may not
be the case (Ibrahim, Muridan, Ali, Jazid, 2020).
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the adoption of Zakat as a global welfare system holds immense potential for achieving
socioeconomic justice and addressing income inequality on a global scale. By mandating the practice of
Zakat worldwide, governments can ensure that everyone lives above the poverty line and benefits from
wealth distribution. Additionally, the cooperative implementation of Zakat among nations can lead to a
balanced distribution of power, contributing to improved security and stability. Zakat can also recirculate
unused money or assets into a nation's economy, boosting the financial status of the nation. Zakat can also
help previously unstable communities recover from issues such as poverty, drug problems, as well as
disputes that may have occurred between its residence because of financial instability. Zakat also has
quite a few difficulties to implement such as; religious discord (issues that may concern not following
other religions doctrines besides your own), islamophobia, taking advantage of receiving zakat and
becoming lazy when receiving it rather than contributing to the community.
https://blog.philanthropy.iupui.edu/2020/02/07/character-philanthropy-and-the-public-good/
https://ibir-api.hbku.edu.qa/sites/default/files/2019-10/The-Institution-of-Zakat-and-Its-EconomicImpact-on-Society.pdf
https://static.prisonpolicy.org/scans/sp/5049.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12285303/