Tenth: salvation from the heat of the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Every person will be under the shade of his charity on the Day of Resurrection” (1). And among those whom Allah will shade in His shade on a Day when there will be no shade but His shade is: “A man who gives charity and conceals it so completely that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given” (2).

Eleventh: it compels a person to learn the limits and laws set by Allah, for he cannot pay his zakah until he knows its rulings, the types of wealth upon which it is due, their minimum taxable amounts, those entitled to receive it, and other matters necessitated by the need to do so.

Twelfth: it purifies wealth—that is, it causes wealth to grow both tangibly and in blessing. When a person gives charity from his wealth, this protects it from afflictions, and Allah may perhaps open for him an increase in provision because of that charity. Hence the hadith states: “Charity does not diminish wealth” (3). This is something observable: a miser may find his wealth subjected to something that destroys it, or most of it—such as fire, heavy losses, or illnesses that compel him to seek treatments which drain great sums of money from him.

Thirteenth: it is a cause for the descent of blessings and goodness. In the hadith: