Question:
We muslims are giving zakah every year & we know it is obligatory, one of my friend questioned why we have to give every year , where it is written??As per him It is once in a life. Please give the evidences from Quran & Hadith for supporting that zakah has to give yearly basis. Abdurrazzaque
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Over the last fourteen centuries, the Muslims did not differ that Zakat must be paid every lunar year if it fulfils the conditions of Zakat. Moreover, the scholars did not differ about this issue until some ignorant people like your friend came up with the view that Zakat is only obligatory once in a lifetime.
The Prophet said: "There shall come deceptive years. The truthful shall be deemed liars, while the liars shall be believed. The honest shall be deemed dishonest, while the dishonest shall be deemed honest. (And) the Ruwaybidhah will speak in these times." The companions asked: "What is Ruwaybidhah O Messenger of Allah?" He replied: "It is an insignificant man who shall speak on behalf of the general masses." [Ahmad and Ibn Majah].
Therefore, the above narration applies to people like your friend, and the term "Ruwaybidhah" applies to these ignorant people who speak about great matters of Muslims.
Indeed, there is evidence from the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Prophet and the consensus of the scholars that Zakat must be paid every year.
Allah Says about the Zakat on the crops (what means): {And pay the due thereof (its Zakat, according to Allah's Orders) on the day of its harvest.} [Quran 6:141].
It is also confirmed that the Prophet said: "If a person does three things, he will indeed find the sweetness of faith: (1) If one worships Allah Alone without associating with Him any partners and knows that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and (2) pays the Zakat of his wealth as a purification for himself to be enabled to pay it every year,….." [Abu Dawood & Al-Albani].
Ibn Hazm said: "The Zakat must be paid every year for camels, cows, sheep (and goats), and gold and silver (currencies) ,…and there is no difference of opinion among the scholars , about this at all."
Therefore, your friend should stop issuing Fataawa and talking on issues of the religion of Allah without knowledge, and he should seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him before he dies.
Allah Knows best.
Fatwa answered by:The Fatwa Center at Islamweb