A Believer's Guide to Zakat

Zakat, an obligatory almsgiving, is one of the five pillars of Islam.
The importance of this Islamic obligation is highlighted by the fact
that it is directly linked to the ritual prayer (salat) by Allah in the
Qur'an on thirty-two occasions. Tragically, it has become something of a
fallen pillar amongst Muslims today. This treatise elucidates the
evidences for its importance and warnings about its negligence from the
Qur'an and Hadith. Moreover; the essential legal rulings - such as who
must pay, on what, how, when and to whom - are explained clearly and
comprehensively, so that even a reader with no great background in
Islamic law will understand the instructions. Finally, it also contains
the correct etiquette that should be observed by both the one paying the
zakat and the one receiving it.

Shaykh Hisham Burhani (1932-2014) was a Syrian scholar who was an
expert in the Hanafi legal school, as well as a spiritual guide
(murshid) in the Shadhili order. He was raised in the company of leading
scholars, in particular his father Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id Burhanii, and
went on to be a lecturer in the Faculty of Shariah at the University of
Damascus, where he taught Islamic law (fiqh), fundamentals of Islamic
law (usul al-fiqh) and Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir). While living in the
United Arab Emirates in the 1980s, he represented the UAE in various
roles at the Islamic Jurisprudence Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.