The word · Worship
صَدَقَة
Sadaqah
Voluntary giving, of any amount and at any time, to anyone in need.
Also written · Sadaqa · Sadqah · Sadakah · Sadaka · Sadqa · Saddaqah · voluntary charity · giving charity · Sadaqat
The meaning
What Sadaqah means in Islam
The root is sidq, truthfulness, because giving is treated as proof that a claim to faith is real. Unlike zakat it has no threshold, no fixed rate and no fixed recipients. The Prophet counted removing harm from a path, a good word, and a smile as sadaqah, so it is not limited to money. Giving quietly is described in the Qur'an as better than giving openly.
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
- Sadaqah JariyahA charity that keeps benefiting people, so its reward continues after the giver dies.صَدَقَة جارِيَة
- FidyahFeeding a poor person for each fast that a person is permanently unable to keep or make up.فِدْيَة
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
- Qada (making up worship)Performing an obligatory act of worship after its proper time has passed, to make it up.قَضاء
- 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