the Muslims’ public treasury—the common funds—in order to keep the zakah intact for those who deserve it, there is no objection.

4. Those whose hearts are to be reconciled (al-muʾallafatu qulūbuhum). They are people whom we try to incline toward Islam. An example is a man who has only recently accepted the faith and whose belief still needs to be strengthened; we give him from the zakah so that he may grow attached to Islam, love the Muslims, gain firmness, and realize that Islam is a religion of bonds and mutual support.

Secondly, reconciliation also includes giving to someone in order to avert his harm, so that the rancor and enmity he harbors against the Muslims may disappear. The jurists have differed: must such recipients be leaders of status and honor among their people, or is that not a condition? The correct view is that it is not required; even giving to an ordinary individual to win his heart to Islam is sufficient. As for giving to a single person merely to ward off his mischief, that is impermissible, for the individual can be referred to the authorities, who will secure your rights from him.

5. “And for the emancipation of slaves” (al-Baqarah 2:177). The scholars have stated that this encompasses three cases:

   1. to purchase a slave and then set him free;
   2. to assist a mukatab—that is, a slave who has contracted with his master to buy his own freedom—in paying off his contract;
   3. to ransom a Muslim captive held by unbelievers or others. Even if a Muslim has been kidnapped by tyrants and will only be released for a ransom paid from zakah, that is permissible.

6. His words, “and those in debt” (al-Tawbah 9:60). The debtor is the one upon whom a debt rests