• It also purifies wealth of grime and afflictions; for assets suffer ailments just as bodies do, and the gravest ailment is the mixing of unlawful gains with lawful ones. Those illicit portions cling to wealth like scabies, consuming it and calling down calamities and troubling misfortunes. Paying zakah cleanses the property of this blight, which blocks blessing and growth, thereby preparing it to flourish, be blessed, and be directed toward beneficial ends.

• Concerning His words, “and thereby elevate them” ⦗al-Tawbah 103⦘, zakah in its very essence denotes growth and increase:
– It nurtures the one who pays it: his character is refined, divine blessing settles upon his deeds, and through zakah he rises in noble qualities and virtuous traits. It likewise causes the wealth to grow by removing what harms it and securing what benefits it, so that the blessing of Allah descends upon it. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ said, “Charity never diminishes wealth” (1); indeed, it makes it increase.
– It also nurtures the recipient, for it meets his need (2).

• Zakah sustains the religious interests to which it is allocated: armed struggle, the spread of knowledge, reconciliation among people, fostering harmony, and the like.

• Moreover, it wards off the aggression of poverty and of the poor themselves. When the affluent hoard their riches and withhold any portion from the needy, the poor—who are the majority of humankind—are driven by necessity to rise against the wealthy with wrongdoing and corruption. It was through causes such as this that the Bolsheviks (3) seized control over the populace.