zakat زكاة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zakat” (زكاة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning obligatory almsgiving in Islam.
Meanings
- obligatory almsgiving in Islam
- alms, charity
Usage
Zakat refers to the obligatory alms, one of the pillars of Islam. It is calculated on wealth and savings and given to the neediest. One commonly says khrrej zzakat, "take out the zakat", meaning to pay it. The zakat al-fitr, paid at the end of Ramadan, is rather called zakat l-fṭer or simply l-fṭra. The word belongs to religious vocabulary and is used in both speech and writing. It should not be confused with ṣadaqa, voluntary and optional alms, even though the two words are sometimes used interchangeably.
Example
خرّجتي الزكاة ديال هاد العام؟
kharrejti zzakat dyal had l3am?
“Have you paid your zakat this year?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zakat” but also “zzakat”, “zaka”, “zka” and “zakate”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.