Researching the Components of Spending In the Way of
Allah: A Modern Perspective
By: Dr. ‘Umar Sullaiman Al’ Ashghar
This paper was presented in the first jurisprudence Symposium which was organized by the General Secretariat of the International Islamic Law Commission for Zakah (Welfare contribution) in Kuwait. The Symposium was held in Abdallah Salih Center for Research, Al’ Azhar University, Cairo from 14th to 16th Rabi’ Al’ Awal 1409 AH, 25th –27th October ,1988.
The purpose of this paper is to verify a juristic question which concerns both rich and poor Muslims. That is specifying spending “In the Way of Allah” which is one of the eight types of expenditure of zakah (welfare contribution).
The researcher, after discussing this matter with specialist scholars, citing their evidences and analyzing them, adopted the weightier opinion and documented it with verses from the Qur’an and quotations from ‘Sunnah’ in which ‘in the Way of Allah’ is mentioned in order to reach an interpretation for what the legislator means with terminology ‘in the Way of Allah’.
The researcher concludes by giving examples of the types of expenditure of ‘Zakah’ which compose this principle (i.e. In the Way of Allah).