Sadaqah
Sadaqah is voluntary charity: giving of any amount, at any time, to anyone in need, beyond the fixed obligation of zakat and without expecting repayment.
Also called: sadaqa · sadaqat · voluntary charity
Where zakat has thresholds, rates and defined recipients, sadaqah is open-ended. It can be money, goods, time or help. In Islamic finance it shows up as the destination for income that has to be given away — late-payment charges collected by Islamic banks and the non-compliant income removed by purification are commonly paid to charity — and as a funding source for social-finance programmes.
In practice
Sadaqah is a gift, not a loan and not an endowment. Money lent interest-free is qard hasan and is repaid; an asset preserved for its income is a waqf.
Commonly confused with
| Term | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Qard hasan | Qard hasan is a benevolent loan that is repaid. Sadaqah is given outright. |
See also
- ZakatZakat is the obligatory annual alms on qualifying wealth above a minimum threshold, payable to specified categories of recipients. It is one of the pillars of Islam, and in some countries it is collected by the state.
- Qard HasanQard hasan is a benevolent, interest-free loan made to help the borrower rather than to earn a return. The principal remains repayable, but the lender seeks no benefit and is expected to be lenient if the borrower struggles.
- WaqfA waqf is an Islamic endowment: an asset permanently dedicated so that its income or benefit serves a charitable, religious or public purpose, while the asset itself is preserved rather than spent.
- Income PurificationIncome purification is the process of identifying income that is not Sharia-compliant — such as interest earned incidentally or the share of a dividend from prohibited activities — and giving it away, usually to charity, instead of treating it as profit.
- TzedakahTzedakah is the Jewish obligation of charitable giving and economic support, a concept connected with justice or righteousness rather than optional generosity alone.
Page Last Updated: 01/Oct/2026