Judaism, in its own words
Tzedakah comes from tsedek, justice. In Jewish tradition giving to the poor is not a favour but a right action, a share that belongs to others. The Torah builds it into the farm:
thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:10 · JPS 1917
The corners of the field, and the sheaf forgotten in it, are left for "the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow" (Deuteronomy 24:19, JPS 1917). The tithe is an old part of the story too:
And all the tithe of the land ... is the LORD'S; it is holy unto the LORD.
Leviticus 27:30 · JPS 1917
Abraham is remembered as giving "a tenth of all" (Genesis 14:20). Today a tenth of income is widely given as tzedakah, with a fifth sometimes named as the generous limit.
Maimonides set out eight levels of giving. The highest is helping someone to stand on their own feet before they fall, with a gift or a loan, a partnership or a job. Among the highest, too, is giving where neither person knows the other (Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10). Read more in Tzedakah.
Christianity, in its own words
Jesus taught giving in secret:
don't let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret
Matthew 6:3-4 · WEB (British Edition)
He watched a poor widow put in two small coins and said she had given more than all the rest (Luke 21:1-4). The first Christians "had all things in common" (Acts 2:44). Paul wrote of the giver in the heart:
Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7 · WEB (British Edition)
The Catholic Church teaches that alms to the poor are "one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2447). Many Christians give a tenth, called a tithe, but most churches leave the amount to the giver. Read more in Christian life and home.
Islam, in its own words
Zakat means "purifying". For Sunni Muslims it is the third pillar: a share of savings above a minimum called the nisab, commonly 2.5%, paid once a year to people in need. Schools of Islamic law differ on details, so Muslims ask their own teachers. The Qur'an names who the gift is for:
The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and (for) the wayfarer; a duty imposed by Allah.
Qur'an 9:60 · Pickthall
It is not a favour. The poor have a right in what you hold:
And in their wealth the beggar and the outcast had due share.
Qur'an 51:19 · Pickthall
Sadaqah is giving beyond the duty, whenever and however a person wishes. The Qur'an praises the hidden gift:
If ye publish your almsgiving, it is well, but if ye hide it and give it to the poor, it will be better for you
Qur'an 2:271 · Pickthall
Read more on the zakah page.
What they share
Giving is bound up with justice, not only kindness. Tzedakah is tsedek, the Qur'an speaks of a "due share" and "a right acknowledged" for the poor (51:19; 70:24), and the Catholic Catechism says that when we give to the poor, "we are paying a debt of justice" (2446). And all three praise the quiet gift: Maimonides' high levels of unseen giving, Jesus's "in secret", and the Qur'an's "hide it".
Each tradition also ties the gift to the giver's own heart: purifying in zakat, righteousness in tzedakah, love in Christian charity.
Honest differences
- Zakat is a fixed duty with a rate and named recipients.
- Jewish tradition makes giving a duty and leaves much of the measure to custom.
- Christians are commanded to love and to give, with the measure left to conscience and to church custom. Tithing is voluntary in most churches.
Keep reading
Next: going without. The site's page on giving across faiths goes further, with other traditions too.