shielding them from want and making them self-sufficient? For in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (994) it is reported: “The best dinar a man can spend is a dinar he spends on his dependants.”

Sixth: Shaykh al-Islām said: Giving to the beggar is a communal obligation, provided he is truthful in his request.

Al-Qurṭubī stated: The scholars concur that if, after the zakāt has been distributed, a need afflicts the Muslims, it becomes mandatory to direct funds toward it.

Al-Iqnāʿ adds: By consensus, there is no obligatory right upon wealth other than zakāt; nevertheless, feeding the hungry and the like is unanimously required, and this duty takes effect whenever its cause arises.