One Who Does Not Accept Zakat as Obligatory

Question

Zayd prays, but does not accept the obligatoriness of zakat; indeed he regards paying zakat as folly. Bakr accepts its obligatoriness but does not pay even a twentieth or twenty-fifth part according to the nisab. What opinion should Muslims hold about such persons?

Answer

Among the things on which the foundation of Islam has been laid is zakat; its obligatoriness is established by a definitive text, and to deny it is to deny a definitive text, with which iman can hardly remain intact. To believe in its obligatoriness yet not fulfil it is a major sin, just as to accept prayer yet not perform it is a grave sin.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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