Zakat's eight asnaf — and how WAQAF enforces them

The eight categories

The Qur'an names eight eligible recipients of Zakat (the asnaf): the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, to free captives, the debt-ridden, in the cause of God, and the stranded traveler. Zakat spent outside these categories is not valid Zakat.

A rule that's easy to break by accident

In a busy charity, a Zakat fund and a general fund can blur together — and a well-meaning expense can quietly draw from the wrong one. The error is invisible until an audit.

Enforced at the point of spending

In WAQAF, a Zakat expense must be tagged with one of the eight categories, and spending Zakat without a valid category is rejected. Compliance becomes a property of the system, checked every time money moves.