T h e V i s i o n o f I s l a m
44
one Bushair ibn Khasasiya. The latter had come to the Prophet
to express his readiness to swear allegiance to the true faith. But
first he was anxious to know on what conditions he could do so,
and what he should have to surrender.When the Prophet specified
what he would have to accept on becoming a Muslim, Bushair said
that two of the precepts,
Zakat
and
Jihad
, would be difficult for
him to follow, and requested that he be exempted from them. The
Prophet, who had extended his hand to receive Bushair’s pledge
of faith withdrew it saying: “O Bushair how can you enter heaven
without
Zakat
and
Jihad
?”
The apostasy which grew after the Prophet’s death arose out
of resistance to the payment of
Zakat
. The ancient Arabs had very
limited economic resources, and many tribes, therefore, wanted
zakat
to be excluded from Islamic obligations. On the plea that
“the man who brought divine grace to the Muslims has left this
world.” (
Kanzul Ummal
, Vol. III, p. 142), these newly converted
Muslim tribes made it plain that they no longer felt obliged to
obey the economic orders of the Islamic government. But they did
not object to anything other than the payment of
Zakat
. They still
called themselves Muslims, and even observed the rituals of prayer
and fasting as enjoined in the Quran. Even so, the first caliph said
“By God, I will fight those who make a distinction between
Salat
and
Zakat
(prayer and almsgiving) because
Zakat
is wealth to which
God has a right.” (
Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad
)
There are many verses of the Quran which emphasise that
“all wealth is God’s” (24:33) and that all bounties come from God
(67:15), (17:20). This being so, had God held all goods and wealth
to be His share, He had the right to do so. But He called only one
portion His and left the rest to His servants. The Quran says: “Pay
the due thereof upon the harvest day.” (6:141)
Canonically,
Zakat
was enforced in the fifth year after the
Hijrah, although in an unspecified form. Having been considered
desirable right from the beginning of the Prophet’s mission, it is
mentioned even in those verses that were revealed in Makkah.
In the same year a group of Muslims migrated from Makkah
