Engaging Politics with Zakat

Abstract

One of the eight categories of zakat recipients mentioned in the Qur’an is the muʾallafa qulūbuhum, or “those whose hearts are brought close.” Many classical jurists interpreted this category as one that allows strategic spending to win allies and protect the Muslim community. This paper studies this interpretation as found in classical works of Islamic law and attempts to map the key features of this classical interpretation onto the context of Muslim minorities in the West—assessing the parallels and the differences between the two contexts and their implications if the overall objective of the classical interpretation, that of allowing strategic spending to win allies to protect the Muslim community, is to be maintained. It concludes by considering how the issues raised by the differences in context in relation to the key features of the classical interpretation may be addressed from within Islamic textual sources and Muslim historical practices and opening a discussion, in light of this paper, on whether zakat funds may be used to support activities such as advocacy, campaigning, and lobbying on behalf of minority Muslim communities in the West. This is an interesting new chapter for Muslim philanthropy in minority settings.