What is the difference between zakat and sadaqah?

The relationship between them

IslamWeb (fatwa 17703) puts it in the language of the scholars of usul: the two words stand in a relation of 'umum wa khusūs mutlaq — absolute generality and specificity. Sadaqah is the general term; zakat is the particular one that falls under it. So the sentence to hold onto is: every zakat is a sadaqah, and not every sadaqah is a zakat.

This is why the Qur'an itself can use the word sadaqat for the obligatory zakat in Surah al-Tawbah, while the same word in ordinary speech means any voluntary giving. The word does not change the ruling; the context does.

Where they differ

Shaykh Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shanqiti, in his commentary on Zad al-Mustaqni', sets out the practical distinctions directly. Zakat is an obligation; sadaqah is a supererogatory act. Beyond that:

• The channels: sadaqah may be given in any avenue of good, while zakat is disbursed only to its own specific categories.
• The wealth: sadaqah may come from any wealth at all, while zakat is only taken from particular kinds of wealth.
• The timing: sadaqah is not tied to a time, while zakat is tied to a time.
• The conditions: sadaqah is not subject to what zakat is subject to, because its scope is broader.

He also explains why it is called sadaqah: the giver is being truthful (yasduqu) about his desire to obey Allah. By going past the boundary of the obligatory into the voluntary, he confirms his love of Allah and his seeking of His reward.

The obligatory and the voluntary

IslamWeb (fatwa 72244) makes the same point from the other direction: sadaqah is applied both to the obligatory zakat and to voluntary giving. The obligatory zakat, however, has three restrictions that define it:

1. It is due only on specific wealth — gold and silver and what stands in their place among today's paper currency; livestock, meaning camels, cattle, sheep and goats; staple grains, dates and raisins, with scholarly disagreement over the details of which crops and fruits; and trade goods.
2. It is due only under specific conditions — the source mentions the conditions of nisab (the minimum threshold), the passing of a lunar year, ownership, and Islam.
3. It is disbursed only to specific recipients — the eight categories named in the verse of Surah al-Tawbah.

The same source notes that zakat is also used for the obligatory zakat al-fitr, and also for voluntary giving — such as kindness to the needy from wealth other than zakat. Voluntary sadaqah to a poor person is better; it may also be given to a wealthy person so that he might take heed and give in turn; and it may take the form of charitable projects — a mosque, a water source, a road, distributing clothes or food, or anything else of benefit to others.

The recipients, and who is barred

The eight categories are fixed by the Qur'an:

"The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those employed to collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives, and the debtors, and in the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer — an obligation from Allah. And Allah is Knowing, Wise."— Qur'an 9:60

Shaykh Ibn Baz (fatwa 30942) draws a distinction that shows the difference in scope sharply. The Prophet ﷺ said of zakat that it is not fitting for the family of Muhammad, for it is "the filth of people" — and Ibn Baz specifies that the prohibition covers zakat only. Drinking water in the mosques, voluntary sadaqah, or the revenues of endowments are all fine for them. The family of the House, he notes, are the Banu Hashim specifically.

Al-Shanqiti raises the same point as a disputed example: some scholars held that a Hashimi may take from general sadaqah but not from zakat — though he states the stronger and more likely view is that they do not take from general sadaqah either.

Where the difference bites in practice

The distinction is not academic. Ibn Baz (fatwa 15961) was asked about giving to a relative who abandons prayer and fasting. His answer: advise him, and give him from your wealth as a means of drawing him toward Islam — but do not give him your zakat. Give the zakat to someone known for uprightness among the poor. Give him from wealth other than zakat, to soften his heart, in the hope that Allah guides him. If he is a person of standing whose heart is being reconciled, then giving him from zakat is permitted, because al-mu'allafah qulubuhum have a share in zakat.

That is the shape of the difference: the same hand, the same wealth, but a different ruling depending on which of the two you are giving.

Key takeaways

• Sadaqah is the general term and zakat the specific one — every zakat is a sadaqah, but not every sadaqah is a zakat.
• Zakat is obligatory and sadaqah is voluntary, though the word sadaqah is also used for the obligatory zakat itself.
• Zakat is restricted in wealth, conditions, timing and recipients; sadaqah is not bound by any of these.
• Zakat goes only to the eight categories named in Surah al-Tawbah; sadaqah may go to any avenue of good, including non-Muslims and the wealthy.
• The family of the Prophet ﷺ are barred from zakat but not from voluntary sadaqah — the prohibition is specific to zakat.

Further reading

• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, the chapter on the zakat of debt and sadaqah
• Shaykh Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shanqiti, Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni'

And Allah knows best.