Zakat (Tax)

Zakāt (زكاة) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is an obligatory (fard) tax^[1] required of Muslims, amounting to about 2.5% of one's wealth over the course of a year. It is levied on five categories of property—food grains; fruit; camels, cattle, sheep, and goats; gold and silver; and movable goods—and is payable each year after one year’s possession. Under the caliphates, the collection and expenditure of zakat was a function of the state (this still remains the case in countries such as Saudi Arabia).^[1]

Slaves and horses owned by Muslims are exempt from this taxation,^[2][3] and it is generally agreed that non-Muslims are not to benefit from the alms giving.^[4] This has led to mainstream Islamic charities, like Islamic Relief, almost exclusively^[5] focusing their humanitarian work in Muslim majority nations or areas in non-Muslim countries which are heavily populated by Muslim minorities.

In the aftermath of the 2010 Pakistan floods, many Christian survivors were denied aid supplied by Muslim charities for this very reason.^[6]