Those who do not beg should be the first to receive charity:

“(Charity) is for the poor who are confined in the way of Allāh, they cannot go about in the land, the ignorant man thinks them to be rich on account of (their) abstaining from begging.’’ (2:273).

Significance of zakāt

Obligatory charity is generally mentioned under the name zakāt, but it is sometimes called a ṣadaqah, specially in ḥadīth. The word zakāt is derived from zakā, which means it (a plant) grew. The other derivatives of this word, as used in the Holy Qur’ān, carry the sense of purification from sins. The Holy Prophet is again and again spoken of as purifying those who would follow him (yuzakkī-him or yuzakkī-kum)13 and the purification of the soul is repeatedly mentioned as being real success in life.14 The word zakāt is also used in the sense of purity from sin. Thus of John it is said: “And We granted him wisdom when a child, and kindheartedness from Us and purity (zakāt)” (19:12, 13). And on another occasion, one child is spoken of as being “better in purity (zakāt)” than another (18 :81). The idea of purity, and that of the growth of human faculties and success in life, are thus connected together. According to Rāghib, zakāt is wealth which is taken from the rich and given to the poor, being so called because it makes wealth grow, or because the giving away of wealth is a source of purification. In fact both these reasons hold true. The giving away of wealth to the poorer members of the community, while, no doubt, a source of blessing to the individual, also increases the wealth of the community as a whole, and at the same time it purifies the giver’s heart of the inordinate love of wealth which brings numerous sins in its train. The Holy Prophet himself has described zakāt as wealth “which is taken from the rich and returned to the poor” (Bu. 24 :1).

Importance of zakāt in Islām

The two commandments, to keep up prayer and to give zakāt, often go together, and this combination of the two is met with in the earliest chapters of the Holy Qur’ān, as well as in those which were revealed towards the end of the Holy Prophet’s life. Thus in ch. 73, which is undoubtedly one of the very earliest revelations, we have: