What is the difference between Sadaqah and Zakat?

Linguistically, Zakat is defined as increase, blessing, and purification, while Sadaqa is derived from sincerity. Legally, Zakat is an act of worship involving the giving of obligatory wealth to its rightful recipients, whereas Sadaqa is a financial expenditure that is not legally obligatory.

Zakat differs from Sadaqa in several aspects: 1. Obligation: Zakat is obligatory on specific types of wealth (such as gold, silver, and livestock) under conditions like reaching the nisab (minimum threshold) and hawl (one lunar year passing), and it has a fixed amount. Sadaqa is voluntary and does not require specific wealth or time. 2. Recipients: The recipients of Zakat are specified in the Quran as eight categories, and it cannot be given to others or to ascendants and descendants (parents and children). Sadaqa may be given to these categories and others, as well as to ascendants and descendants, and to the rich and the able-bodied who earn. 3. Punishment: One who withholds Zakat is punished, whereas one who abandons Sadaqa is not punished. 4. Transfer: Zakat is taken from the wealthy of a country and returned to their poor, and it is not transferred to another country unless there is a benefit in doing so. Sadaqa can be disbursed to those near and far. 5. Beneficiary: Zakat is not given to disbelievers or to the Zakat payer's wife, whereas Sadaqa may be given to disbelievers and to the wife. 6. Death: If a person dies and owes Zakat, the heirs must disburse it from their wealth before any bequests or inheritance, unlike Sadaqa.

Finally, Sadaqa may sometimes refer to obligatory Zakat, and Sadaqa encompasses all acts of righteousness, for "every good deed is Sadaqa."