5.   to keep the fasts of Ramadan. ^[1]

Zakat and Salah have been mentioned together 32 times in the Holy Quran, such is their significance and importance. ^[2]

Importance of Zakat

Dear Islamic brothers! No matter how economically developed a country is, it surely has a class [of people] that live in poverty due to various reasons. Allah Almighty has assigned the responsibility of financially supporting such people to the wealthy. By making Zakat obligatory on the wealthy, Allah Almighty has made weak and poor people of the society eligible to financial support through the means of Zakat. In this fashion, money and wealth circulates to the poor instead of being restricted to just a few people, thus maintaining economic balance. Remember! If Allah Almighty wanted, He عَزَّوَجَلَّ would make everybody rich and no one would be poor, but by His Divine will, He عَزَّوَجَلَّ has made some people rich and some poor. He عَزَّوَجَلَّ tests the rich with their wealth and the poor with their poverty. In verse 165 of Surah Al-An’aam, part 8, Allah Almighty has stated:

وَ هُوَ الَّذِیْ جَعَلَكُمْ خَلٰٓىٕفَ الْاَرْضِ وَ رَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجٰتٍ لِّیَبْلُوَكُمْ فِیْ مَاۤ اٰتٰىكُمْؕ-

And it is He Who made you vicegerents on earth and (O people! He) has raised one over the other in ranks amongst you, in order that He may test you with what He has bestowed upon you.^[3]