the love of Allah, for Allah the Exalted says, “And do good; indeed Allah loves the doers of good” (Qur’an 2:195).

Zakah also engenders harmony among people, for when the wealthy give the poor their due from zakah, whatever rancor the poor once felt toward them is dispelled. Should the affluent withhold it and show them no kindness, resentment takes root in their hearts.

Moreover, zakah protects the poor from being driven to aggression. When a needy person realizes that the well-to-do will not give him anything, he fears that he may be compelled to break doors and seize wealth, for he must live—he must eat and drink. If nothing reaches him, hunger, thirst, and nakedness may push him to prey upon others through theft, looting, and similar crimes.

Zakah is likewise a means of attracting blessings from the heavens. A hadith states, “No people withhold the zakah of their wealth except that they are denied rain from the sky.” When people discharge the zakah due on their property, Allah sends down blessings from heaven and earth: rain falls, the land produces, livestock are satisfied, and people drink from the water that descends—together with many other manifold benefits.