tazakka, which occurs frequently in early passages of the Qur'an, as meaning even in these passages "to pay the zakat" or fixed contribution for the support of the poor of the community, which became one of the institutions of Islam. That would imply that Muhammad at the very beginning of his mission advocated a ready thought-out scheme for the relief of the poor. Snouck Hurgronje,¹ however, conclusively showed that this interpretation of Muhammad as a kind of Socialist could not be upheld. A definite tradition assigns the introduction of the zakat as a prescribed religious tax to the second year of the Hijra, and there is no good reason for questioning the truth of that tradition. The word tazakka, the root meaning of which is "to purify oneself", has in early passages still something of that original sense about it, but the acquired connotation of almsgiving is even more prominent. The religious merit of giving to the poor is an idea common to the East, and both Judaism and Christianity had given that modification to the corresponding root in Hebrew and Aramaic. In using that and similar terms in the early parts of the Qur'an, Muhammad is not so much advocating a social programme for the relief of the poor as demanding generosity as part of man's religious duty, and recommending almsgiving as a means of setting the soul right with God.

Still, it is evident that the social wrongs which appeared in a hard-bitten trading community like that of the Quraish of Mecca had made an impression upon Muhammad's mind. By all

accounts he himself had felt the pinch of poverty in his youth. The natural meaning of a passage above quoted (Surah xciii.) is that he had been an orphan child, though it has been suggested that its meaning is metaphorical. Tradition at any rate has taken it in its literal sense and confirmed it by circumstantial details which can hardly be altogether devout imagination. But whether that be so or not, there are fairly early passages which show that he had a keen perception of social abuses and had the rights of the poor and the unfortunate upon his heart. To give a share of their wealth to the suppliant and the outcast is among the characteristics of the good (Surah li. v. 19). More specifically we have the orphan and the beggar recommended for considerate treatment in a passage already quoted (Surah xciii. vv. 9-10). Again in Surah xc. vv. 11 ff. we have the "Path" which is set before men, but from which they turn away, described as

Giving freedom to a bondman,
Feeding in the day of famine
An orphan who is near (of kin)
Or a poor man whose lot is miserable.

Surah lxxxix. vv. 18-21 declares of the Meccans:

Ye honour not the orphan
Ye urge not (one another) to feed the poor,
Ye devour heritages greedily,
And ye love riches exceedingly.

The use of false balances is perhaps referred to in Surah ci., but the sense is disputed, and the