FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

give them financial assistance from the treasury in order to improve their lot.’ To sum up, the fulfilment of basic economic needs, the safety of society, support in times of famine and similar disasters are the social obligations of the state. In Islam the state enterprise is thus the public enterprise established with the sole aim of serving humanity. It is achieved through collection of dues and taxes by the state into the state treasury and the utilization of these public funds for the good of the whole society and all its members, on an equal basis according to their needs. Islam does not lose sight of the human community in any of its commandments as revealed in the Quran and expounded in the teachings of the Prophet. THE CONCEPT OF ZAKAT AND SADAQAH AND THEIR IMPORTANCE Zakat is the fourth ‘pillar’ of Islam. Zakat means setting apart for God, every year a certain portion of one’s savings and wealth (generally 2.5 percent) and spending it upon religious duties and on needy members of the community. The fulfilment of this duty is, in fact, a kind of reminder that all one has is in trust from God. Man should, therefore, hold nothing back from God. To whatever one may amass in one’s lifetime, one’s own personal contribution is insignificant. If the Supreme Being, who is at work in the heavens and on the earth, refused to assist man, there would be nothing that the latter could accomplish single-handedly. He would not be able to plant so much as a single seed to make things grow. Nor could he set up any industry, or carry out any other enterprise. If God were to withdraw from us His material blessings, all our plans would go awry, and all our efforts would be brought to naught. Zakat is the practical recognition of this fact through the expenditure of money for the cause of God. Islam requires man to consider his personal wealth as belonging to God and, therefore, to set apart a portion for Him. No maximum limit has been prescribed, but a minimum limit has been fixed. According to statutory Zakat, individuals must spend a fixed minimum percentage of their wealth every year in the way prescribed by God. While spending from this wealth, one is not permitted to belittle the recipient or to make the recipient feel obligated. This wealth must be given to the needy in the spirit of it being as a trust from God that is being handed over to the genuine The second Caliph Umar said: ‘Taxes are justified only when they are collected in a just and legal way and they are spent justly and legally.’