The total wealth in the World is about 360,603 Billion American Dollar [1]. Zakat (Islamic alms-giving, charity) must be given based on the value of all of rich people’s possessions. Zakat (zakaat, zakah, zekat) is %2.5 for wealth such as money, gold, diamond. And %10 for plants such as rice, wheat.
The rich people who have more than 1 million and 100.000 $-1 Million $ have the wealth of
158.300 Billion $ + 140.200 Billion $ = 298.500 Billion $ (see the figure above [2] )
These rich people must give at least 7.462 Billion $ to poor people (298.500 Billion $/40=7.462 Billion $).
1.3 billion live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day) and 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat [3].
The rich people will give 7.462/1,3= 5.740 $ each year to each poor people according to the zakat. And this means that poor people won’t be poor any more.
This help (zekat) will also increase trade, because poor people will use this money for their main needs. They won’t collect the money like the rich people.
The rich people will also be happy, because helping people and especially the poor gives peace of mind.
NOTE: In this calculation, we didn’t add the zakat of plants such as rice, wheat. We only consider, the main concept of zakat that rich people must give to poor people who cannot meet their basic needs. Zakat can also be given to another areas such as to free slaves, to help wayfarers, stranded travelers, etc. It can contribute to the elimination of many other problems on Earth.
REFERENCES
- https://www.visualcapitalist.com/all-of-the-worlds-wealth-in-one-visualization/
- https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-report-2019-en.pdf
- https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty
