1.11 Zakat — System and Its Impacts — Islamic Studies

Exam-Focused Study Guide — 1.11 Zakat

Recommended answer outline: Definition → eight beneficiaries → purification → alleviating hardship.

Claim, Evidence, Example and Significance

Core claim: Explain the religious concept precisely before discussing effects.
Evidence: Use the topic's verified Qur'anic verses and Hadith references below, explaining how each supports the claim.
Applied example: An eligible indebted person receives support under Qur'an 9:60.
Significance: Connect this practical conduct to character, social responsibility or public welfare as the question demands.

20-mark answer method: Write an introduction and question-specific outline, develop each substantial point in a short paragraph or clearly separated bullets, then finish with a balanced conclusion. Retain the detailed supporting notes and past-paper questions below.

Book reference: Islamic Studies Question Bank, Theme I, p.6 — "Write a comprehensive note on the Zakat system of Islam and its spiritual, moral and social impacts"; Q.3 (Question Bank, p.viii) — "Who are entitled to receive Zakat according to the Qur'an? Elucidate the social impact of Zakat, and how can poverty be alleviated with its distribution in Islamic society?"

Definition and Meaning

Zakat (زکاۃ) literally means purification and growth. In Shariah it is a fixed obligatory share (commonly 2.5% on qualifying wealth held for one lunar year above the threshold of Nisab) that a Muslim must pay annually from his wealth to specified categories of recipients. It is the third pillar of Islam.

Qur'anic Evidence

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خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا

اردو ترجمہ: ان کے مالوں میں سے صدقہ (زکاۃ) لے لیجئے، جس سے آپ انہیں پاک کریں اور ان کا تزکیہ کریں۔

English: "Take, [O Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase."

— Surah At-Tawbah 9:103

إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَالْغَارِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ

اردو ترجمہ: صدقات (زکاۃ) صرف فقیروں، مسکینوں، زکاۃ جمع کرنے والے کارکنوں، جن کی تالیفِ قلب مقصود ہو، غلاموں کو آزاد کرانے میں، قرض داروں، اللہ کی راہ میں اور مسافروں کے لیے ہیں۔

English: "Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler."

— Surah At-Tawbah 9:60

وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

اردو ترجمہ: اور جو لوگ سونا چاندی جمع کرتے ہیں اور اسے اللہ کی راہ میں خرچ نہیں کرتے، انہیں دردناک عذاب کی خبر سنا دیجئے۔

English: "And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah — give them tidings of a painful punishment."

— Surah At-Tawbah 9:34

The Eight Categories Entitled to Zakat — Qur'an 9:60

Qur'anic basis: Surah At-Tawbah, 9:60. The Arabic expressions below follow the order of the verse. Zakat is restricted to these eight classes, subject to the detailed eligibility rules of Islamic jurisprudence.

1. لِلْفُقَرَاءِ — Al-Fuqarāʾ (The Poor)

Arabic term in the Ayah: لِلْفُقَرَاءِ — lil-fuqarāʾ.
English meaning: People living in poverty who lack sufficient resources to meet basic needs.
Explanation: The first category protects people who cannot adequately provide food, clothing, housing or other necessities for themselves and their dependants.
Example: A labourer with irregular income who cannot cover essential household expenses.
Exam point: Zakat provides direct, dignified assistance instead of leaving poverty relief entirely to occasional voluntary charity.

2. وَالْمَسَاكِينِ — Al-Masākīn (The Needy)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَالْمَسَاكِينِ — wal-masākīn.
English meaning: Needy people whose available means are inadequate for essential living expenses.
Explanation: This category includes people experiencing serious material hardship, even where they have limited earnings. Classical jurists differ on the precise distinction and relative degree of need between faqīr and miskīn.
Example: A low-paid worker whose wages do not cover rent, food and necessary medical treatment.
Exam point: The first two categories together show Zakat's priority for poverty alleviation.

3. وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا — Al-ʿĀmilīna ʿAlayhā (Zakat Administrators)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا — wal-ʿāmilīna ʿalayhā.
English meaning: Persons officially assigned to administer and collect Zakat.
Explanation: Eligible collectors and administrators can receive lawful remuneration for work involved in assessing, collecting, safeguarding and distributing Zakat. It is not a general payment category for every charitable volunteer.
Example: An authorised Zakat collector tasked with verifying contributions and distributing them to eligible households.
Exam point: This provision shows that Zakat can support an organised collection and distribution system.

4. وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ — Al-Muʾallafati Qulūbuhum (Those Whose Hearts Are to Be Reconciled)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ — wal-muʾallafati qulūbuhum.
English meaning: Persons whose hearts are to be reconciled or brought closer.
Explanation: Classical discussions include designated individuals supported to strengthen religious or communal reconciliation. The scope, conditions and present-day applicability are matters of juristic disagreement.
Example: Assistance to a qualifying recent convert in circumstances recognised by the applicable school of Islamic law.
Exam point: Zakat has a dimension of social integration in addition to immediate material relief.

5. وَفِي الرِّقَابِ — Fī al-Riqāb (Emancipation from Bondage)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَفِي الرِّقَابِ — wa-fī al-riqāb.
English meaning: For freeing people from bondage.
Explanation: Historically, this category helped secure the manumission of enslaved persons under recognised legal arrangements. Scholars differ over which contemporary forms of captivity or bondage may qualify.
Example: Financial assistance towards a lawful emancipation arrangement in its historical setting.
Exam point: The category reflects Islam's concern for liberation and protection of human dignity; it should not be treated as permission to fund any unspecified ransom.

6. وَالْغَارِمِينَ — Al-Ghārimīn (Eligible Debtors)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَالْغَارِمِينَ — wal-ghārimīn.
English meaning: People burdened by qualifying debts.
Explanation: Zakat can assist debtors meeting the legal conditions, including those unable to discharge legitimate obligations. Not every debt or financially comfortable borrower is automatically eligible.
Example: An indebted family unable to repay necessary medical expenses without losing its basic means of living.
Exam point: Debt relief prevents severe financial distress from becoming long-term poverty and exclusion.

7. وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — Fī Sabīlillāh (In the Cause of Allah)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — wa-fī sabīlillāh.
English meaning: In the cause or path of Allah.
Explanation: Classical jurists often discussed this head in relation to lawful religiously sanctioned military needs; some jurists and contemporary scholars interpret its scope more broadly. Its precise application differs among legal schools and should not be equated automatically with every charity, hospital or public project.
Example: Expenditure that satisfies the applicable juristic interpretation and safeguards for this category.
Exam point: Explain the scholarly qualification whenever an exam question asks what Fī Sabīlillāh means.

8. وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ — Ibn al-Sabīl (The Stranded Traveller)

Arabic term in the Ayah: وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ — wabn al-sabīl.
English meaning: A traveller stranded or cut off from adequate resources while away from home.
Explanation: A qualifying traveller may need assistance to complete a necessary journey or return safely, even if the person is financially secure at home but cannot access those funds while travelling.
Example: A traveller whose wallet and access to money are lost far from home.
Exam point: Zakat responds to temporary vulnerability as well as chronic poverty.

Quick Revision — Remember All Eight in Qur'anic Order

فقراء — Poor
مساکین / مَسَاكِين — Needy
عاملین — Administrators
مؤلفة القلوب — Reconciliation of hearts
رقاب — Liberation from bondage
غارمین — Eligible debtors
فی سبیل اللہ — Cause of Allah
ابن السبیل — Stranded traveller

CSS writing tip: For a 20-mark question, first cite 9:60, then present these eight numbered heads with Arabic terms and 2–3 lines of explanation each. Follow with a separate analytical paragraph showing how assistance to the poor, needy, debtors and travellers reduces hardship and strengthens social solidarity.

Hadith Evidence

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بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ... وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ

اردو ترجمہ: اسلام کی بنیاد پانچ چیزوں پر رکھی گئی ہے... اور زکاۃ ادا کرنا۔

English: "Islam is built upon five [pillars]... and giving Zakat."

— Sahih al-Bukhari 8; Sahih Muslim 16

تُؤْخَذُ مِنْ أَغْنِيَائِهِمْ فَتُرَدُّ فِي فُقَرَائِهِمْ

اردو ترجمہ: یہ (زکاۃ) ان کے مالداروں سے لی جائے گی اور انہی کے فقیروں کو لوٹا دی جائے گی۔

English: "[Zakat] is to be taken from their rich and given back to their poor."

— Sahih Muslim 19a (Arabic wording quoted here); Sahih al-Bukhari 1496 reports the same instruction with a slight wording variation (فَتُرَدُّ عَلَى فُقَرَائِهِمْ)

Spiritual and Moral Impact

Purifies wealth and the giver's soul from greed, miserliness (Bukhl) and materialism.
Cultivates gratitude, generosity and empathy for the less fortunate.
Strengthens Tawakkul (trust in Allah) — the giver learns that provision (Rizq) comes from Allah, not merely from accumulation.

Wealth redistribution: Zakat is a mandatory, systematic transfer from the wealthy to the needy, preventing wealth becoming "a thing circulating only among the rich among you" (59:7).
Poverty alleviation mechanism: paid directly to the Fuqara/Masakin categories (9:60), Zakat functions as a targeted social-safety-net, and where organised at state level (Bait-ul-Mal) can fund sustained anti-poverty programmes rather than one-off charity.
Debt relief and social reintegration: the Gharimin category clears debtors' burdens, preventing debt-driven social collapse; Fir-Riqab historically funded the freeing of slaves.
National cohesion: Al-Mu'allafati Qulubuhum builds bridges with new or wavering communities, showing Zakat's role beyond pure economics.
State institutionalisation: Caliph Umar (RA) formalised Zakat collection and distribution through the Bait-ul-Mal and Diwan system (see Theme VI) — a historical model for a modern, transparent state-run poverty-alleviation institution (relevant directly to Question Bank Q.3).

CSS Exam Tips

For Q.3-style questions, explicitly list all eight categories from 9:60, then discuss the poverty-alleviation mechanism (redistribution, debt-relief, state institutionalisation) as a distinct section.
Contrast Zakat's compulsory, structured nature with voluntary Sadaqah to show depth of understanding.
Cross-reference: Islamic Financial and Economic System and Elements of Social Justice pages under Theme VII.

20-Mark Enrichment — Analytical Material

Core Argument

Zakat is not charity. It is a compulsory transfer of a defined share of accumulated wealth, described by the Qur'an as a right belonging to the poor rather than a favour granted by the rich. It is therefore simultaneously an act of worship and an instrument of fiscal policy — the point at which Islamic spirituality becomes an economic institution. Answers that treat Zakat as generosity lose the argument before they begin.

1. Zakat as a Right (Ḥaqq), Not a Favour

وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ — "In their wealth is a recognised right for the petitioner and the deprived" (al-Dhariyat 51:19; also al-Ma'arij 70:24–25).
The vocabulary is legal, not sentimental: the poor are creditors, not beneficiaries.
Consequently the recipient's dignity is preserved — he receives what is owed, not what is spared.

2. Purification of Wealth and of the Self

خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا — "Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify and sanctify them" (al-Tawbah 9:103).
The verb zakā carries both purification and growth: wealth is cleansed of the moral residue of accumulation, and the soul is cleansed of greed (bukhl, shuḥḥ).
Zakat therefore treats the disease and not merely the symptom — it reforms the owner, not only the distribution.

3. Anti-Hoarding and the Doctrine of Circulation

كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ مِنكُمْ — "so that wealth does not circulate only among the rich among you" (al-Ḥashr 59:7): the clearest statement of distributive intent in scripture.
Al-Tawbah 9:34–9:35 attaches severe warning to hoarding gold and silver without spending in Allah's path.
Context for CSS answers: Al-Hashr 59:7 speaks directly about the distribution of fay’ (property acquired without battle), not the legal categories or calculation of Zakat. Cite it as a broader principle of preventing excessive wealth concentration; cite At-Tawbah 9:60 for the eight Zakat recipients.
Because Zakat is levied on held wealth rather than income, it penalises idle capital and pushes savings towards investment or transfer. This is its most distinctive economic feature and should be stated explicitly.

4. The Eight Categories as a Welfare Architecture

Qur'an 9:60 fixes the recipients: the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing captives, debtors, in the path of Allah, and the wayfarer.
This is not a single benefit but a differentiated system: income support, debt relief, administration, emancipation, and travel assistance.
Notably, the collectors are paid from the fund itself, meaning Zakat presupposes an administrative apparatus — that is, a state.

5. Zakat as a State Institution

Abu Bakr (RA) treated refusal to pay Zakat to the central authority as a challenge to the state itself, and fought the Riddah campaigns on that basis, insisting that Zakat and Salat could not be separated.
Reports from the caliphate of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz describe collectors struggling to locate eligible recipients — an illustration of what systematic collection can achieve. Treat this as reported tradition rather than audited statistics.
The lesson for a CSS answer: Zakat's full effect requires institutional collection, not individual discretion.

6. Zakat Compared with Modern Taxation

Zakat is fixed, non-negotiable and divinely defined; tax rates are political and revisable.
Zakat is levied on wealth held for a lunar year above niṣāb; most modern taxes fall on income and consumption, which burden the earner rather than the accumulator.
Zakat's expenditure heads are pre-specified, removing discretion over the poor's share, whereas tax revenue competes with defence, debt servicing and administration.
Zakat carries worship value, generating voluntary compliance that no revenue authority can manufacture.

7. Contemporary Application in Pakistan

The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance of 1980 institutionalised deduction at source on specified assets, with distribution through local committees.
Its recognised weaknesses — narrow asset coverage, leakage, weak targeting and declining public confidence — are legitimate material for the critical section of an answer, provided the criticism is directed at implementation rather than at the injunction.

Critical / Analytical Angle

The strongest available argument is that Zakat is a floor, not a ceiling. It operates within a wider architecture: prohibition of ribā, encouragement of ṣadaqah, the waqf endowment system, and inheritance rules that fragment rather than concentrate estates. Judged in isolation, 2.5 per cent appears modest; judged as one component of an integrated system that simultaneously blocks interest income, disperses inheritance and mobilises endowments, it is structurally redistributive.

✍️ CSS 2018 · Q6 — Full Model Answer (20 Marks)

Question: Write a comprehensive note on the Zakat system of Islam and its spiritual, moral and social impacts.

Answer outline

Introduction — meaning and obligatory status
Qur'anic and Prophetic foundation
System — Nisab, qualifying wealth, rate and eight recipients
Spiritual impacts — purification, gratitude, trust in Allah
Moral impacts — generosity, empathy, self-discipline
Social and economic impacts — redistribution, poverty reduction, debt relief and solidarity
Implementation challenges and conclusion

Zakat, meaning purification and growth, is an obligatory pillar of Islam. It requires eligible Muslims to transfer a prescribed portion of qualifying wealth to people specified by Islamic law. In this way, Zakat joins personal devotion to practical responsibility for others: the giver fulfils a religious duty, while eligible recipients receive assistance to which they are entitled.

2. Qur'anic and Prophetic Foundations

Purification — At-Tawbah 9:103: تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا — “You purify them and cause them increase.” The verse connects giving with purification of the soul.
Lawful recipients — At-Tawbah 9:60: The Qur'an identifies eight categories; eligibility cannot be left to the giver's personal preferences.
Prophetic instruction — Sahih al-Bukhari 1496: تُؤْخَذُ مِنْ أَغْنِيَائِهِمْ فَتُرَدُّ عَلَى فُقَرَائِهِمْ — Zakat is taken from the wealthy and returned to the poor. This highlights its redistributive purpose.

3. Essential Features of the Zakat System

Obligation: It is farḍ for those meeting its conditions, unlike voluntary ṣadaqah.
Nisab and rate: On many forms of qualifying monetary and trade wealth, the usual rate is 2.5% after the applicable lunar-year condition. Rules differ for agricultural produce and other categories of wealth.
Fixed beneficiaries: The eight heads in Qur'an 9:60 are the poor, needy, Zakat administrators, persons whose hearts are to be reconciled, emancipation from bondage, eligible debtors, the cause of Allah, and stranded travellers.
Organised distribution: Individuals or authorised institutions must identify genuine eligibility and respect the recipient's dignity.

4. Spiritual Impacts

Purification of the soul: Giving weakens excessive attachment to possessions. The worshipper learns that ownership carries obligations beyond personal consumption.
Gratitude to Allah: Zakat reminds a prosperous person that wealth is a trust. Gratitude becomes meaningful when it is expressed through assistance to those in need.
Tawakkul and sincerity: Paying Zakat despite the desire to accumulate fosters trust in divine provision. Its spiritual benefit depends on sincere intention, not public praise.

5. Moral Impacts

Generosity over miserliness: Regular giving cultivates the habit of sharing rather than treating wealth as an end in itself.
Empathy and humility: Awareness of another family's hardship challenges arrogance and contempt based on income or social position.
Responsible conduct: Paying the proper amount, identifying rightful recipients and avoiding humiliating displays of charity develop honesty, fairness and respect.

Poverty relief: Assistance to fuqarāʾ and masākīn helps meet food, housing and other basic needs. Suitable support can also help eligible families acquire lawful means of livelihood.
Debt relief: Aid to qualifying ghārimīn prevents financial distress from permanently trapping a household in poverty.
Wealth circulation: Regular transfers from eligible holders of wealth to deserving recipients can increase purchasing capacity among poorer households and reduce excessive concentration.
Social solidarity: The duties of the prosperous and the rights of vulnerable groups reinforce a sense of shared responsibility within the community.
A wider safety net: Assistance for stranded travellers and historically for people facing bondage shows that the system addresses different forms of vulnerability, not only permanent poverty.

7. Critical Evaluation — Conditions for Success

Transparent administration: Collection, eligibility checks and distribution should be accountable and free from favouritism.
Respect for legal limits: Not every worthy public expenditure is automatically a valid Zakat use. Juristic restrictions must be considered, especially where tamlik (transfer of ownership) applies.
Complementary reforms: Zakat cannot by itself eliminate structural poverty. Education, productive employment, fair public institutions and other lawful welfare mechanisms remain necessary.

8. Conclusion

Zakat is both an act of worship and a structured means of protecting vulnerable members of society. Spiritually it encourages purification and gratitude; morally it develops generosity and responsibility; socially it reduces hardship and strengthens solidarity. Its promise is realised most fully when lawful eligibility is combined with compassionate and transparent implementation.

✍️ CSS 2017 · Q2 — How to Adapt the Answer (20 Marks)

Question: Who are entitled to receive Zakat according to the Qur'an? Explain its social impact and the role of distribution in reducing poverty.

Answer outline

Definition and Qur'anic basis (9:60)
All eight recipients, explained in Qur'anic order
Social impact: relief, justice, solidarity and financial security
Poverty-alleviation process: assessment → collection → eligible distribution → self-reliance
Safeguards: accountability and dignity
Conclusion

Priority for this specific question: Devote more space to the eight eligible categories and poverty-reduction mechanism than to spiritual and moral effects. Use the fully explained Arabic-term list earlier on this page.

Mechanism — How Zakat Can Reduce Poverty

Step 1 — Identify genuine need: Determine who qualifies under the eight Qur'anic categories, distinguishing chronic poverty from debt or temporary travel-related hardship.
Step 2 — Collect lawful contributions: Calculate qualifying wealth under the relevant rules and secure the contributions through trustworthy channels.
Step 3 — Transfer assistance to rightful recipients: Prioritise direct relief for essential needs and permitted forms of livelihood support, without violating the applicable legal requirements.
Step 4 — Maintain accountability: Document disbursement, prevent misuse and ensure that recipients are treated respectfully.
Step 5 — Support lasting self-sufficiency: Coordinate Zakat with education, employment and other appropriately funded programmes rather than assuming a single payment permanently removes poverty.

Closing argument: Zakat's distinctive contribution is that it turns a duty of faith into an enforceable responsibility toward those who are eligible for support. Its success depends on correctly identifying their rights and delivering assistance fairly.

📌 Past Paper Questions — CSS 2017–2026

Every FPSC question on this topic, linked to its solved model answer. Open the year page and jump to the Q number.

Asked directly (2 times):

2017 · Q2 — Who are entitled to receive Zakat according to the Quran? Elucidating social impact of Zakat, clarify how can poverty be alleviated with its distribution in Islamic society? → 2017 — Islamic Studies (CSS)
2018 · Q6 — Write a comprehensive note on Zakat system of Islam and its spiritual, moral and social impacts. → 2018 — Islamic Studies (CSS)

Related questions (Zakat is a key part of the answer):

2025 · Q5 — What are the disadvantages of concentration of wealth? What economic measures has Islam introduced to prevent this? → 2025 — Islamic Studies (CSS)

🎯 Exam pattern: Asked back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Always quote 9:60 and list all eight heads — the 2024 MCQ also asked "how many heads of Zakat" (answer: 8) and the 2026 MCQ asked the meaning of fi sabilillah.

📝 CSS Past-Paper MCQs — 2024–2026

Actual FPSC objective questions, grouped under this syllabus subtopic. Answer choices follow the uploaded papers; explanatory notes distinguish established facts from ambiguous or disputed keys. Years 2017–2023 do not include Part-I questions in the provided scans.

2024 · MCQ 3 (1 mark). How many heads of Zakat are mentioned in the Qur'an?
- Options: A. 5 · B. 6 · C. 7 · D. 8
- Correct answer: D. 8. Surah At-Tawbah 9:60. Year-wise solved paper.
2024 · MCQ 20 (1 mark). The Qur'anic term 'Gharmin' means:
- Options: A. An indebted person · B. A friend · C. A slave · D. A neighbour
- Correct answer: A. An indebted person. Al-Gharimin (debtors) are among the eight recipients of Zakat. Year-wise solved paper.
2026 · MCQ 2 (1 mark). According to the Mufassirin, what is meant by 'Fi Sabilillah' among the heads of Zakat?
- Options: A. Jihad · B. Welfare · C. Hospitals · D. None of these
- Correct answer: A. Jihad (answer in the solved-paper key). This is a classical interpretation; jurists differ over how broadly the category extends. Year-wise solved paper.

CSS 2017 & 2018 — Zakat: Eligible Recipients, Poverty and Impacts (20 Marks)

📖 Seerah Story Bank — A Memorable CSS Example

Mu'adh sent to Yemen with clear priorities

Short, quotable incident: When sending Mu'adh to Yemen, the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to teach the testimony of faith and prayer, then explain that Zakat would be taken from the wealthy among the community and returned to its poor. The sequence links belief with organised social obligation.

How to use it in an exam answer: The instructions to Mu'adh describe Zakat as a structured transfer from eligible wealth holders to the poor, not voluntary generosity alone.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1395. Best fit: Use this example only where it directly supports the question; summarize in 2–4 lines rather than retelling the whole event. The short narrative above is a paraphrase, not a verbatim Hadith quotation.