The word · Worship
الأَصْنافُ الثَّمانِيَة
Asnaf
The eight groups the Qur'an names as the only lawful recipients of zakat.
Also written · Asnaf al-zakat · eight categories · eight recipients · Masarif al-zakat · who can receive zakat · Mustahiq · Fuqara · Masakin · Fi sabilillah · Riqab · Gharimin · Ibn as-sabil
The meaning
What Asnaf means in Islam
They are the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing those in bondage, the debt burdened, the cause of Allah, and the stranded traveller. The list is fixed by a single verse, which is why most scholars hold that zakat cannot be spent on a mosque building or a general good cause the way sadaqah can. Scholars differ over how widely the seventh category may be read.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- ZakatThe yearly obligatory share of qualifying wealth, normally 2.5 percent, given to those entitled to it.زَكاة
- NisabThe minimum amount of wealth a person must hold before zakat becomes due on it.نِصاب
- SadaqahVoluntary giving, of any amount and at any time, to anyone in need.صَدَقَة
More from Worship
- AdhanThe call announcing that a prayer time has entered, given aloud before each obligatory prayer.أَذان
- HawlThe full lunar year that wealth must be held above the nisab before zakat falls due on it.حَوْل
- KhumsA fifth of certain wealth; in Sunni law on spoils and treasure, in Shia practice a yearly payment.خُمْس
- QasrShortening the four-rak'ah prayers to two while travelling, and combining two prayers in one time.قَصْرُ الصَّلاة
- SawmFasting: abstaining from food, drink and intimacy from true dawn until sunset, with intention.صَوْم
- Tamattu'One of the three ways to perform hajj: umrah first, then leaving ihram, then hajj from Makkah.تَمَتُّع