Zakah (Purifying Alms) literally means
purification, whence it is used to express a portion of property
bestowed in alms, as a means of purifying the person concerned
and the remainder of his property. It is among the five pillars
of Islam and refers to the mandatory amount that a Muslim must
pay out of his property. The detailed rules of zakah have been
laid down in books of Fiqh.
