This is the reading of my article on zakat which comprises one of the articles in the Appendix of my work The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation.
You can read the full article (which contains all references) here: https://www.quranite.com/zakat-in-the...
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In summary, the facts are these:
- The core, non-sectarian dictionary definitions of zakāt are purity, sincerity and integrity
- There are occasions in the Qur’an where this noun is rendered – and, in fact, can only be rendered – after its core, non-sectarian dictionary definitions (18:81, 19:13), a point with which the Traditionalist himself concurs
- Nowhere do the Traditionalist’s values for either the noun al zakāt or the collocation ātā al zakāt find support in the Qur’an; he claims that what is referenced is a tax on wealth (the details of which, naturally, he claims to know), and one simply has to believe him
- The Qur’an nowhere applies indirect objects to ātā al zakāt; that is, it nowhere says ātā al zakāt of such-and-such to such-and-such; it simply states ātā al zakāt as a blanket imperative or statement, one devoid of any object or clarification; all claims as to what this collocation denotes have originated with the Traditionalist and his extraneous literature
- Not only does the Traditionalist’s creeping claim for a specific tax not find support in the Qur’an, it contradicts explicit Qur’anic precepts; namely, the fact that material giving is by free will and in an amount to be decided upon by the giver (2:219)
- There are several cases where an exhortation to give and the expression ātā al zakāt are met together, rendering ātā al zakāt (if it, in fact, meant giving material goods) redundant or superfluous (2:83, 2:177, 5:12, 73:20)
- The only occasion in which the verb to give (Arabic: ātā) and zakāt occur together with a clear indirect object, the recipient is the prophet Yaḥyā – who is given zakāt by God (19:12-13); Yaḥyā’s central and defining characteristic is that of (sexual) purity (3:39) – i.e. ‘honourable and chaste‘
- The term ātā al zakāt is one component of the allegiance believing men and believing women have toward each other (9:71) and is found in the context of enjoining what is fitting and forbidding perversity
God enjoined al zakāt upon ʿĪsā, son of Maryam throughout his life (19:31); it is not possible to argue convincingly that an infant is capable of paying anything to anybody
- The expression ātā al zakāt occurs twice in chapter 24 (24:37, 24:56); the unifying point and focus of chapter 24 is the safeguarding of sexual morals in the context of a believing community
- The wives of the prophet are exhorted ātā al zakāt at 33:33 in a context where they can be assumed to have little or no material wealth of their own (33:28) and in which they are expressly directed to embrace perfect marital commitment to the prophet (to the exclusion of possible further husbands after his death) and to maintain an exacting level of marital scrupulosity befitting their roles as his wives; see 33:28-34
- Two characteristics of the idolaters are that they do not ātā al zakāt and that they deny the hereafter (41:7); sexual immorality is a consequence of idolatry in its broadest sense
- Those who fear (i.e. due to lack of means) to send ahead charity at the time of confidential conversation with the prophet – and who are, therefore, understood to be bereft of material means – are told, nevertheless, that they should ātā al zakāt (see 58:12-13) – an imperative which jars appreciably with the context given the Traditionalist’s reading; sexual purity is something one may maintain in any material circumstance
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See: "VIRTUE MADE SIMPLE IN THE QURAN: what you need to do to live a godly life in one verse – 2:177"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ7-GXnl_JM
