Short answer
Almsgiving in Islam has two main forms: zakat, the obligatory alms of 2.5 percent on wealth held for a year above the nisab, and sadaqah, voluntary charity of any amount. Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. Around them sit zakat al-fitr at Eid, fidya and kaffarah, and lasting charity such as waqf.
Zakat is fard. Zakat al-fitr is wajib, as is sadaqah owed for a vow, kaffarah or fidya, and these go to the poor. Other sadaqah is sunnah. Obligatory alms need the intention and must be handed into the ownership of an eligible person.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Almsgiving is one of the clearest marks of a believer in the Quran: true righteousness includes giving wealth, despite loving it, to relatives, orphans, the needy and travellers, and giving zakat (2:177). Islam organises giving into several kinds, from the fixed duty to the freely given.
- Zakat: fard on a Muslim who owns the nisab for a lunar year. It is 2.5 percent of savings, gold, silver and trade goods, with separate rules for livestock and crops, and goes to the eight groups in 9:60 (see what zakat means).
- Zakat al-fitr: a small payment for each family member before the Eid prayer at the end of Ramadan (see zakat al-fitr calculator).
- Fidya and kaffarah: payments owed for missed fasts and broken oaths or fasts (see fidya and kaffarah calculator).
- Voluntary sadaqah: any amount to any good cause (see what sadaqah means).
- Sadaqah jariyah and waqf: lasting charity, such as an endowment whose income serves others for years (see what waqf is).
- Lillah: the name UK and South Asian masjids use for general voluntary donations (see what lillah is).
The manners of giving matter as much as the amount. Give from lawful earnings. Do not spoil charity with reminders or hurtful words (2:264). Give quietly where you can, start with needy relatives, and stay moderate so that your own dependants are not left in need.
The four schools agree on all of these duties. The only difference is in labels: the other schools call zakat al-fitr fard, while the Hanafis use wajib, a rank just below fard. Interest money is not alms: it is disposed of by giving it to the poor without hoping for reward.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:177
۞ لَّيْسَ ٱلْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلْبِرَّ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ وَٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ وَٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ وَءَاتَى ٱلْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ ذَوِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَى ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَٰهَدُوا۟ ۖ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ فِى ٱلْبَأْسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَحِينَ ٱلْبَأْسِ ۗ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا۟ ۖ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُتَّقُونَ ﴿١٧٧﴾
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
Giving wealth and paying zakat are part of true righteousness.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:264
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُبْطِلُوا۟ صَدَقَٰتِكُم بِٱلْمَنِّ وَٱلْأَذَىٰ كَٱلَّذِى يُنفِقُ مَالَهُۥ رِئَآءَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ ۖ فَمَثَلُهُۥ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌۭ فَأَصَابَهُۥ وَابِلٌۭ فَتَرَكَهُۥ صَلْدًۭا ۖ لَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَىْءٍۢ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا۟ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ ﴿٢٦٤﴾
O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities with reminders or injury as does one who spends his wealth [only] to be seen by the people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day. His example is like that of a [large] smooth stone upon which is dust and is hit by a downpour that leaves it bare. They are unable [to keep] anything of what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.
Reminders and hurt cancel the reward of charity.
Sahih al-Bukhari 8
Sahih... وإقام الصلاة وإيتاء الزكاة والحج وصوم رمضان ...
"Islam is built on five, among them establishing prayer and giving zakat."
Zakat is a pillar of Islam.
Sahih Muslim 1631
Sahih... انقطع عنه عمله إلا من ثلاثة إلا من صدقة جارية ...
"When a person dies his deeds end except for three, one of them ongoing charity."
Lasting charity keeps earning reward after death.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, and chapter on sadaqat al-fitr. Zakat is fard and sadaqat al-fitr is wajib.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the recipients (bab al-masrif). Wajib sadaqat go to the same recipients as zakat.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.