Q. If a Muslim country imposes taxation on people, what should be the attitude of Muslim people? Must they present accurate accounts of their income? Should they abide by the relevant rules? If the same department in government collects both zakah and taxes, could we present our accounts in such a way so that zakah is included in the tax we pay to the government?
Abu Asma
A. We must never confuse zakah with taxation. The two are totally different, and the one cannot be adjusted or even compared with the other. Zakah is an act of worship, imposed by God in the same way as prayer. It is a financial type of worship that aims to reduce poverty and cater for certain important areas of the life of the Muslim community.
The way of its distribution and spending is defined by God, which means that zakah funds cannot be spent in other areas, even though they may be urgently needed by the Muslim community. For example, zakah funds cannot be spent to build a road, or train policemen, etc. Taxation, on the other hand, provides a government with funds to carry out a wide range of services.
There may be some aspects of such services that could be financed with zakah funds, but the majority of them are not possible to fund in this way, even if we assume that there is surplus of zakah funds, after having paid for all eight areas defined in the Qur’an for its spending.
How can a government finance its different departments, and pay for the services it provides, such as roads and transport, education, health, promotion of agriculture, essential industries, etc. The only way is fair taxation.
People often ask whether Islam allows the imposition of taxes. The answer is that it does. The Prophet says: “A duty other than zakah may be imposed on money.” The Prophet does not specify what duty, so as to leave it to every community to determine. This Hadith allows the imposition of duties that the Muslim community, or its government needs.
When such a tax is imposed, should we comply? The Prophet says: “Listen and obey even though your leader may be an African slave with a head that looks like a raisin.” He also says: “A Muslim must obey and comply with orders, unless he is bid to commit an act of disobedience to God.” The payment of tax to fund the services provided by the government falls under the category defined in this Hadith. Therefore, a dutiful Muslim is one who presents his tax returns accurately and pays tax on time. He also pays out his zakah as and when it becomes due.
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