What Can I Do to Convince My Husband to Differentiate between Zakat and Tax?


Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

How can I convince my husband to differentiate between zakat and tax?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

Difference Between Government Tax and Zakat

1. In general, taxes that we pay to the government are in no way a substitute for Zakat, as it is paid to the government and is used in government expenditure, and there is no limit on this area. Zakat has to be distributed to specific groups of people as specified by Allah Most High in the Quran. See the video link below.

Zakat to Poor to Reward Deceased In-Laws

2. Your intention to take money from your husband was to send the reward to your parents. So, if your husband gave money with the intention of Zakat, and you gave the money to the poor with the intention of sending reward to your parents, then if this in reality is his intention and Zakat, then it will only absolve him of his duty of Zakat, and the reward will not be given to your parents.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
I pray this helps with your question.

Wassalam,

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey.

He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His personal interest is the love of books and gardening.