In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful. May Allah bless Muhammad and his family. O Allah, grant Your help.

First Book of Zakat

Section
On the Derivation of the Word Zakat

The word zakat is derived from zakā’ (growth). Thus, people say that crops have grown, flourished and become good, using the verb zakā; likewise, they use it of expenditure that increases and is blessed. Another example is Allah’s saying:

“Have you killed a pure soul who had killed no one?”

The same derivation underlies a judge’s attestation to the integrity of witnesses, for he thereby advances their standing, raising them from disrepute to recognized uprightness. Likewise, one says that a person has become upright, or that one person is more upright than another.

Section

The obligatory charity levied on wealth is called zakat because wealth grows and is blessed when zakat is paid on it. It has also been said that it is so named because it grows with Allah—that is, it increases for its giver with Him, exalted is He—as related in the following report:

“Whoever gives charity from wholesome earnings—and Allah accepts only what is wholesome—it is as though he places it in the palm of the Most Merciful, who nurtures it for him as one of you rears his foal or young camel, until it becomes like a mountain.”

It has also been said that it is so named because it is levied only on wealth intended to increase, not on goods retained for use rather than trade. My own view is that it is so named because the person who pays it thereby rises in standing with Allah Most High. This is supported by the saying of Allah Most High: