What is the difference between zakat and sadaqah?

## The difference in one line **Zakat** is an obligation: its rate is fixed, its time is fixed, and its recipients are fixed. **Sadaqah** is voluntary: no set amount, no set time, and no restriction to a particular category. ## Zakat A pillar of Islam, with no choice in it for whoever owes it. - **Rate:** a quarter of a tenth (2.5%) of wealth that has reached the nisab and completed its hawl - **Time:** when the hawl completes, not whenever the owner wishes - **Recipients:** eight categories named in the Qur'an, the best known being the poor and the needy - **Withholding it:** sinful, because it is a due right and not a favour This restriction is the reason for the administrative separation: zakat funds may not be spent on construction, operations or administrative costs, but only on those entitled to them. ## Sadaqah Open and voluntary. - **Amount:** whatever you can give, little or much - **Time:** whenever you wish - **Uses:** any beneficial purpose: food, clothing, education, employment, construction - **Leaving it:** no sin in it ## Sadaqah jariyah A kind of sadaqah distinguished by an effect that continues after the money is spent. The difference from ordinary sadaqah lies not in the ruling but in the **effect**: charity that feeds a hungry person today ends today, while charity that keeps a production line running keeps giving as long as the line works. For this reason sadaqah jariyah is suitable as charity on behalf of someone who has passed away, since its reward does not cease when the giver departs this world. ## A short table | | Zakat | Sadaqah | |---|---|---| | Ruling | Obligatory | Voluntary | | Amount | Fixed 2.5% | Whatever you can | | Time | At the hawl | Whenever you wish | | Recipients | Eight categories | Any beneficial purpose | | Operating costs | Not permitted | Permitted | ## Where does each go at Al-Dahabi? **Your zakat** goes to the Zakat al-Mal project. Its funds are separated from everything else, are not mixed with operating costs, and are disbursed to the poor and needy inside Syria. **Your sadaqah** has a wider door: you can direct it to Hijab Kiswa, to Winter Kiswa, or to Sadaqah Jariyah, which funds continuous production in Aleppo. **Family sponsorship** accepts both: it serves as sadaqah for any donor, and as zakat if the family is among those entitled to zakat. ## Recurring questions **Does sadaqah discharge zakat?** No. Whoever owes zakat is not relieved of it by voluntary charity, however much, because it is an obligation standing on its own. **Must I make an intention?** Yes, and the intention is a condition. Money paid with the intention of sadaqah does not count as zakat even if it reaches an eligible recipient. So settle your intention when you give, and choose the project that matches it. **May zakat be used for building or equipment?** The majority of scholars say no, because the eight categories are people, not projects. This is why we do not fund manufacturing or operations from zakat funds. ## This is a simplification, not a fatwa Detailed questions — zakat on shares, paying it before the hawl, giving it to a relative, appointing a body to disburse it — carry distinctions among scholars, so ask someone whose knowledge you trust.