Zakāt (Arabic: زكاة, "that which purifies"), or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving by Muslims based on accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all who are able to do so. It is considered to be a personal responsibility for Muslims to ease economic hardship for others and eliminate inequality. The practice is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. In the United Kingdom, Muslims today give more to charity than people of other religions, according to a British poll. There, Muslims, on average, gave $567, compared to $412 for Jews, $308 for Protestants, $272 for Catholics and $177 for atheists. Today, conservative estimates of annual zakat is estimated to be 15 times global humanitarian aid contributions
The Qur'an talks about the zakat in more than 30 different verses, mainly in the Medinan suras. In the Qur'anic view, zakat is a way to redistribute the wealth, thus defining a charity-based economy with a particular interest in the poor and the dispossessed Muslims. Zakat is considered more than taxation. One must give zakat for the sake of one's salvation: while those who give zakat can expect reward from God in the afterlife, neglecting to give zakat can result in damnation. The giving of the zakat is considered a means of purifying one's wealth and soul. Non-Muslims are not required to pay zakat, but give a tax by a different name called Jizyah tax. Giving of taxes to Muslims (which includes zakat) is also part of the primordial covenant between God and humankind.[Quran 2:83] The Qur'an lists the beneficiaries of zakat
