Both Jews and Muslims are required to give an annual tithe.\u00a0 In Judaism, it’s called “maaser,” and in Islam, it’s referred to as “Zakat.”\u00a0 Somehow, I ended up on the Zakat list for some Muslim charity last year, and apparently they share their lists (or more likely, sell them) just as Jewish organizations do.\u00a0 Which means that this year, I’m on four lists.<\/p>\n

Both amuont are 10%, but they’re 10% of very different totals.\u00a0 In Judaism, Maaser is a 10% after-tax line-item deduction on income.\u00a0 In Islam, Zakat is a 10% assessment on net assets (with a personal exemption, to boot).\u00a0 So for Judaism, it’s an Income Statement problem, and for Islam, it’s a Balance Sheet question.<\/p>\n

I don’t know enough about how Islam view wealth or Zakat for that matter to come to any conclusions (although if I keep reading these solicitations, I may) but I’d like to throw out there as a working hypothesis that they represent different views of money.\u00a0 A tax on income would seem to reflect a more dynamic view of wealth.\u00a0 Someone may have a lot of assets, but either be unable to dispose of them, or may simply have a bad year.\u00a0 Where a tax on assets – a property tax, if you will – may reflect a more static view of wealth, that it’s unlikely to evaporate (or sublimate) over the course of a year.<\/p>\n

As I said, I’m not sure about this, and I’m open to proofs that I have it exactly backwards.\u00a0 But I do think it’s an interesting difference.
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