سورة التوبة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever supposes that the Imam is in need of what is in the people's hands, he is a disbeliever. Indeed, it is the people who are in need that [the Imam] accept something from them. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِمْ بِها [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed I accept a few dirhams from one of you, even though in the city of Madina my wealth is more than everyone's. In accepting it, I want nothing except that you should be purified.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Hassan al-Wasiti narrated from one of our companions who said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah the Blessed and Exalted: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِم بِهَا [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby]: "Does it also apply to the Imam (peace be upon him) after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)?" He said: "Yes."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Imam compels people to pay zakat, because Allah the Exalted has said: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُم [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them thereby], and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Bring one-fortieth as zakat — from every twenty mithqals, half a mithqal, and from every two hundred dirhams, five dirhams."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan said: The Imam (peace be upon him) said: When this verse, خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِم بِهَا [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby], was revealed in the month of Ramadan, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) ordered his crier to announce as follows: "Indeed Allah has made zakat obligatory, just as He has made the prayer obligatory upon you." Allah the Mighty and Majestic made [zakat] obligatory upon them on gold and silver, and made sadaqah obligatory on camels, cows, sheep, wheat, barley, dates and raisins. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) conveyed this ruling to the people in the month of Ramadan and exempted them from other items. The Imam (peace be upon him) then continued: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) did not touch the people's wealth that year until the following year came (a year passed). They fasted and broke their fast. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ordered his crier to announce as follows: 'O Muslims! Pay the zakat of your wealth so that your prayers may be accepted.'" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "And he dispatched agents to the settlements and pasturelands."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Those three persons who stayed behind in the Battle of Tabuk [and did not go to the battle], when these verses were revealed: وَ عَلَی الثَّلاثَةِ الَّذینَ خُلِّفُوا ... تابَ عَلَیْهِمْ لِیَتُوبُوا إِنَّ اللهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحیم [And to the three who were left behind ... He turned to them (in mercy) that they might turn (to Him); surely Allah is the Oft-Returning, the Merciful], and they said: "O Messenger of Allah! Take our wealth and give it as sadaqah and purify us from sins." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "I have not been commanded to take anything from your wealth." [Then] the verse was revealed: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً [Take alms out of their property]. [The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] took from them the zakat that was religiously obligatory.

Imam al-Jawad (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Mahziyar said: Imam al-Jawad (peace be upon him) wrote a letter to him, and I read his letter to him on the road to Mecca. He said: "What I have made obligatory in this year [and this is the year two hundred and twenty] is only for one meaning among the meanings [of the verse]. I do not like to explain the whole meaning of it, because I fear it will be spread, and I will soon explain some of it (the meaning) to you, if Allah the Exalted wills. Indeed my Shia [whose well-being I ask from Allah], or some of them, have fallen short in their obligations. I came to know of this. I wished to purify them and nurture them [by this act I did this year of ordering them to pay khums]. Allah the Exalted said: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِمْ بِها وَ صَلِّ عَلَیْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلاتَکَ سَکَنٌ لَهُمْ وَ اللهُ سَمِیعٌ عَلِیمٌ * أَ لَمْ یَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبادِهِ وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقاتِ وَ أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِیمُ. وَ قُلِ اعْمَلُوا فَسَیَرَی اللهُ عَمَلَکُمْ وَ رَسُولُهُ وَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَ سَتُرَدُّونَ إِلی عالِمِ الْغَیْبِ وَ الشَّهادَةِ فَیُنَبِّئُکُمْ بِما کُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby, and pray for them; surely your prayer is a relief to them; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. Do they not know that Allah is He who accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms, and that Allah is the Oft-returning, the Merciful. And say: Work; so Allah will see your work and (so will) His Messenger and the believers; and you shall be brought back to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, then He will inform you of what you did]. I have not made it (khums) obligatory upon them every year, nor do I make anything obligatory upon them except the zakat which Allah has made obligatory upon them. This year I have only made khums obligatory upon them on gold and silver upon which a year has passed since acquiring them. I have not made it (khums) obligatory in clothes, nor in vessels, nor animals, nor servants, nor profit gained in trade, nor estates — except for one estate whose matter [the one estate upon which I made khums obligatory] I will soon explain to you. [And this act] is a lightening from me upon my Shia and a favor from me upon them, because the ruler steals their wealth, and for that reason there are afflictions in their persons."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Zurara said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Is this saying of Allah: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِمْ بِها [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby], the same as His saying: وَ آتُوا الزَّکاةَ [And give the zakat]?" He said: "The sadaqat (alms) are on plants and animals, and the zakat is on gold and silver, and the zakat of fasting."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Qasim ibn Ibrahim al-Alawi narrates that he was asked about rice, lentils, chickpeas, broad beans and grains similar to these, and figs, olives and fruit: "Does zakat apply to them?" He said: "Every grain that grows from the earth has zakat on it, according to the saying of Allah: خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَ تُزَکِّیهِمْ بِها [Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby]."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): When the verse صَلِّ عَلَیْهِمْ [and pray for them] was revealed and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) commanded the companions to pay the zakat and hand it over to him, the first person who carried out this command and brought the zakat was a man named Abu Awfa. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) prayed for him and said: "O Allah, send blessings upon Abu Awfa and the family of Abu Awfa."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan said: We were with a group of companions in the presence of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), and the Imam began the conversation by saying to us: "How do you send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)?" We said: "We say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad." He said: "It is as if by these words you are commanding Allah the Mighty and Majestic to send blessings upon them." I said: "Then how should we say it?" He said, say: "...O Allah! I ask You to convey blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and to draw me near to them in Your presence, just as You commanded me to send blessings upon him ... So bring us close through Your greeting and peace, and bestow upon us a noble reward from Your mercy, and grant us from Muhammad the most excellent of Your blessings, وَ صَلِّ عَلَیْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلاتَکَ سَکَنٌ لَهُمْ [and pray for them; indeed your prayer is a relief to them], and purify us through his blessings and the blessings of his household."