‘Purify your wealth with zakat as it brings blessings & unity’
“THE Islamic religion is great and has covered all aspects of life and contains Islamic values that Western sciences have failed to achieve. The five pillars of Islam including prayer, zakat, fasting and pilgrimage is a beautiful sequence, and we will focus on zakat -- zakat al-fitr, zakat on money and , etc,” columnist Dr. Turki Al-Azmi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“One of the beauties of Islam is zakat. It contains solidarity, compassion, sympathy, and cooperation among Muslims and it is purification for the one who gives zakat. As a whole, it confirms that Islam is a religion of social solidarity. Zakat is mentioned in many verses of the Noble Qur’an (take charity from their money to purify them and purify them with it) and (give zakat), which is a great pillar.
“In the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, a Muslim is keen to pay zakat al-fitr and calculate zakat on money, gold, shares and others since zakat is obligatory.
“How many a poor, chaste family does not find what covers their living needs, and for this reason, God has prescribed zakat to strike a balance between the rich and the poor. By digging water wells for the poor, following the hadith of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, ‘The best charity is watering’, and it is an ongoing awareness campaign because water is the basis of life for the Almighty says, ‘And we made from water every living thing’.
“Here we talk about the rich -- you have cash; you have gold and jewelry; you have shares, zakat them, for there are your brothers who do not find what you enjoy even water, not to mention the importance of zakat and charity in bringing sustenance and blessing. It saddens me to see families in Africa standing in queues everyone with a pail in hand in search of water.
“If our brothers, the rich and even the middle-income ones, had put the equation of blessing how it would be in Islam, they would have gone and donated before they spent their money on life’s pleasures to help those who live below the poverty line.
“When you die, your life will be folded and nothing will remain with you after your burial except your good deeds, so did you pay the zakat and give alms? Ask yourself, knowing with certainty, that in many countries, including Kuwait, there are families who suffer from hardships of living and are subject to zakat and charity.
“Purify your wealth with zakat as long as you are alive, as it brings blessings, wealth development, and social solidarity. It is, zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, so how can a Muslim who is able and healthy in his body not pay it?
“I ask God to bless you and us in money, children, family, and sustenance and remember charitable giving beside zakat and its importance that came in the honorable hadith ‘Treat your sick with charity’. Charity pays off affliction from the giver of charity.”
“It seems that we have been on a constant date with contempt and lack of modesty, especially in the month of Ramadan, the month of obedience and forgiveness,” columnist Walid Ibrahim Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“The other calamity here is that some drama series show obscenity in a Kuwaiti dialect, as if these events are taking place in our conservative society without accountability or supervision, which requires the intervention of officials represented by the Ministry of Information to prosecute those who should be prosecuted for this act.
“It seems that some actions do not demonize except during the month of Ramadan, and this demonization has also developed into a falsification of historical facts, the last of which is the series that shows one of the actors’ reference to the lack of resistance to the Kuwaiti army and the popular resistance when the invading Saddamist forces entered the country.
“We ask God to improve this situation at a time when Muslims are preoccupied with acts of worship, remembrance, and the Qur’an, and asking for forgiveness while there are those who are anxious to follow these (nonsense) episode after episode and word by word!
“Meanwhile, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was desecrated by the Jews and the Israeli army last Friday. Did someone use the word terrorism against the Israelis, or is that word confined these days to the Russians’ invasion of the Ukrainians?”
“In 2007, the government formed a committee tasked to remove encroachments on State properties headed by the late Muhammad Al-Badr. It launched a large-scale campaign to remove all manifestations of violation of the law, public taste, and transgression against State properties,” columnist Owaid Al-Salili wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“The movements of that committee caused media, parliamentary and public uproar, as well as widespread criticism, because everyone at the time was accustomed to violating the law, and considered it their absolute right without favoritism.
“I have made multiple visits to many GCC countries and I always notice the difference between what is happening in other Gulf countries and us.
“There, it is rare to see a Gulf citizen trespassing on State property, or to see, for example, the establishment of a diwaniya outside the walls of the house, or a farm covering sidewalks, streets and squares. The most we see there are houses with umbrellas or small gardens, without causing a closure or blocking the view of pedestrians and drivers.
“What is happening in the country in terms of chaos and lack of respect for the law is caused by the municipality, which is in deep slumber and is not performing its assigned role. This made the citizen believe that encroaching on State property is his inherent right.
“The government must follow up the file of abuses on State properties, because government agencies, especially the municipality, are partners in the corruption and chaos that has befallen Kuwait. Things cannot be restored without governmental intervention. When will the prestige of the law be imposed?”
“The government may be mistaken in believing that amending the electoral constituency will lead to political calm and stability..…” columnist Dr Naji Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“If Kuwait were one, five, ten or 25 electoral constituencies, the result would be same! The reason for this is that the parliamentary-governmental dispute is not with the representatives of a particular constituency, it is rather from several departments. It will remain so, no matter how many times the number of constituencies change...
“The voter is the voter... The candidates are the same no matter how the names or the constituencies change.
“Instead of amending the constituencies, the government must reconsider the way it deals with the representatives. It is not permissible in any society that seeks democracy, respects human rights, and seeks social justice to choose at the beginning of any legislative term a group of representatives who support the government, and fulfill their desires in mediation and in choosing people for positions.”