When it comes to eliminating poverty, eradicating diseases, and other problems that plague our world, financing tends to be the first obstacle. In today’s world, the amount of wealth a small minority of people have can fund solutions to these global issues. Some (including those in the wealthy minority) think it’s unfair for just a few to take on all the financial responsibilities. Others think it’s entirely justified and reasonable considering how much wealth would remain. A key part of Islamic charity that accounts for situations like this is sadaqah.
Sadaqah in Islam is a voluntary charity. By contrast, zakat is an obligatory charity in Islam. Zakat has guidelines and rules that determine who owes a portion of their wealth to the unwealthy, how much the wealthy owe, and who among the unwealthy qualify to receive it. Muslims can calculate exactly how much they owe in zakat if they are diligent in keeping track of their various forms of wealth.
And that zakat payment, in one sense, is the extent of what Muslims are required to give. In the case of a small, wealthy minority funding solutions to global issues like poverty and disease, it’s possible. The United Nations’ food program director invited billionaire Elon Musk in 2021 to discuss exactly how to make it happen, sharing an executive summary of the plan that would cost about $6 billion. But even if a wealthy-enough Muslim were to pay this $6 billion, if that amount is above and beyond the requirement for that payer’s zakat, the remainder would fall under the sadaqah umbrella.
This sadaqah — giving because someone wants to alleviate someone else’s burden — is the kind of charity that could change the world. Just in the United States, it could change millions of lives as people fight to pay off student loan debt.
Islamic charity can change the world
Some of the richest and poorest people in the world are Muslims.
That wealth gap can continue growing if the wealthiest don’t actively fund solutions to systemic issues that trap the poorest in poverty cycles. Just by paying what they owe in zakat, the wealthiest Muslims in the world could positively transform the lives of the poorest. And with sadaqah stacked on, the amount of change would create an all-new society.
These forms of Islamic charity are all it would take to build a new world devoid of some of the current world’s biggest problems. But, of course, it is not that simple. And it certainly would not be immediate.
Still, there is a path out of the darkness. Islamic charity has many forms even within the two categories of zakat and sadaqah. For example, Zakat Foundation of America alone offers services in a variety of programmatic sectors.
Generous donors can contribute to programs such as:
Each of these programs provides a mix of short-term and long-term relief, and each addresses a different global issue. Those who are unsure which program to contribute to can donate to the general zakat fund or give however much sadaqah they choose.