Benefits of the Hadith: "… Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me and said: 'You will come to a people from the People of the Book…"

The Shaykh : It is called sadaqah (charity) because the giving of wealth is evidence of the sincerity of the faith of the one who gives it, for wealth is beloved to souls, as Allah the Exalted said: A person does not give up what is beloved to him except for something more beloved to him. So if this man or woman gives up wealth while loving it, that indicates that he loves what is with Allah more than he loves his wealth, and that is evidence of the sincerity of faith. In His saying: there is evidence that the one in authority has the right to take the zakah from those who owe it and distribute it in its proper channels, and that if he does so, the obligation is discharged. But if someone were to say: "I am afraid that the one who takes it will play with it and then distribute it in channels other than its proper ones," we would say to him: If you have paid what is due from you, your obligation is discharged, whether it is distributed in its proper channels or not. However, Imam Ahmad said: "If he sees that the Imam does not distribute it in its proper channels, he should not give it to him except if, meaning, he demands it from him and compels him to pay it" and in that case his obligation is discharged. Based on this, there is no harm in a person concealing some of his wealth if the one who takes it does not distribute it in its proper channels, so that he can pay the obligatory zakah due on him himself. And if it happens that the one in authority takes more than what is due, that is injustice which is not permissible for the one in authority. As for the owner of the wealth, he must obey and be obedient, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And if it happens that the one in authority takes less than what is due, it is obligatory for the owner of the wealth to pay the remainder, and he should not say that it was taken from him and his obligation is discharged, because if we assume that the zakah is one thousand and eight hundred was taken, you must complete the two hundred by paying it out. Among the benefits of this hadith: It is permissible to distribute the zakah in one category of the categories of zakah. The categories of zakah are eight: the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing captives, those in debt, in the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer. If you pay it to one of these categories, it suffices. Indeed, if you pay it to one of these types, meaning one person of one type, for example, if you give all your zakah to one poor person, there is no harm. So if, for example, a person has a debt of one hundred thousand riyals and your zakah is one hundred thousand, and you pay off his entire debt, then your obligation is discharged by this. And thus, the meaning of His saying the Exalted: is merely specifying the channels of distribution, and it is not obligatory to give to all eight categories, nor is it obligatory to give to three from each category. Rather, if you pay it to one person of one category, that suffices, as in this hadith. It is also derived from it: that the zakah is distributed in its place, meaning in the place of the wealth, and this has been mentioned before and explained that it is not permissible to take one's zakah out of the country where the wealth is, except if there is a greater benefit or need. But as long as there are recipients in it, he does not take it out, but rather he pays the zakah in the same country. In the hadith is also evidence of the prohibition of injustice and that it is not permissible for the collector of zakah to take more than what is due. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned Mu'adh and said to him: Al-karim is the plural of karimah, which is the desirable good deed. In it is evidence that the supplication of the oppressed is answered, due to His saying: In it is evidence that it is obligatory for a person to fear injustice and be afraid of the supplication of the oppressed, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that, so he said: And Allah grants success.