God says
And they should not think -- they who niggardly cling to all that God has granted them out of His Bounty -- that this is good for them: no, it is bad for them.* That to which they so niggardly cling will, on the Day of Resurrection, be hung around their necks: … Q.3:180
*This is an allusion to the way of life of the unbelievers mentioned in the previous verse 179 : a way of life characterized by extreme attachment to the material things of this world – a materialism based on lack of belief in anything that transcends the practical problem of life.
Reluctance to pay Zakat, that is compulsory, is the product of this attachment and attitude. It would help to pay attention to the meanings of short surah 102.
….. They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of God*, unto them give tidings [O Muhammad] of a painful doom. On the Day when it will [all] be heated up in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, sides and their backs will be branded therewith**, [those sinners shall be told:] Here is that which you have laid up for yourselves. Now taste the evil of what you used to hoard. Q.9:34,35
*Most probably this is, in the first instance, an allusion to the wealth of Jewish and Christian communities, and their misuse of their wealth. Some of the commentators, however, are of the opinion that the reference is wider, comprising all people including Muslims, who hoard their wealth without spending anything thereof on righteous causes.
** Cf. the parallel allegory, in 3:180, of suffering which will befall the greedy for riches and niggardly in the life to come.
Prophet said
Two women came to the Prophet wearing gold bangles. He asked them, “Have you both paid Zakat?” They replied in negative. He then asked, “Would you both like that God dresses you (On Resurrection Day) with Bangles from hell?” No!: they replied. He said, “Then pay Zakat of these” – H: Tirmizi. N: Amr-b-Shuaib through his father.
“Can anyone of you recite 1000 Qur’anic verses everyday?”, the Prophet continued, “Read surah “AL-HAKU MUT TAKASUR …..( surah 102, its equivalent)” -- H: Hakim. N: Abdullah-b-Omer
