Zakat, alms-tax is one of the five basic tenets of Islam. Its payment is obligatory, at the rate of 2.5%, on all wealth that is subject to growth. This amount is given in the name of God and is to be spent on worthy religious causes and on meeting the needs of the poor and the helpless. Eight categories of people, eligible to receive Zakat, have been specified in the Quran:

“Alms are only for: the poor and the destitute, for those who collect zakat, for conciliating people’s hearts, for freeing slaves, for those in debt, for spending for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. It is a legal obligation enjoined by God. God is all-knowing and wise.” (The Quran, 9:60)

Of the eight categories for the distribution of zakat mentioned in the above Quranic verse, 'for the cause of God' is directly related to dawah ilallah or calling people to God.

Often 'for the cause of God' is related to jihad. Dawah ilallah or the call to God and the Quran has been termed as great jihad, jihad-e-kabir in the following verse of the Quran: “Do great jihad with the help of it (the Quran)” (The Quran, 25:52)

The Egyptian scholar, Rasheed Raza Misri, has noted in his commentary of the Quran entitled Tafseer Manar that the words 'for the cause of God' are equally applicable to those who strive to spread the word of God. (Al-Risala English, June 1984, pp 6-7)

In Tafseer Manar, Rasheed Raza Misri explains that the best way to give alms (zakat) 'for the cause of God' in the present age, is to contribute to the training of dayees, and to their dispatch to other lands, and to continue to give financial support to them. The highest form of spending zakat ‘for the cause of God’ is, therefore, to strive to spread the word of God (Quran) to mankind and calling people to God (dawah ilallah).

In the following verse dawah ilallah has been called ‘helping God’ or Nusrat-e-khuda, “Believers, be God’s helpers. (The Quran, 61:14) It means to become wholly honest in relation to God and to feel and evince total goodwill towards all one’s fellow men.

Spreading the word of God (Islam) worldwide is a responsibility that Prophet Muhammad gave to members of his Ummah. Muslims are duty-bound as followers of Prophet Muhammad to undertake dawah ilallah. Giving Zakat for propagation of the message of true religion is an effective way to perform one’s duty of dawah ilallah assuring God’s reward for those who spend their wealth for God’s cause:

“Those who spend their wealth for God’s cause may be compared to a grain of corn which sprouts into seven ears, with a hundred grains in each ear: for God grants manifold increase to whom He wills; God is infinite and all knowing.” (The Quran, 2:261)

Fasting prepares a believer for the mission of God. Giving zakat for the sake of God is a way to fulfil this high purpose, in the hope of becoming eligible for this highest reward.