The Quran

ما أَفاءَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ رَسولِهِ مِن أَهلِ القُرىٰ فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسولِ وَلِذِي القُربىٰ وَاليَتامىٰ وَالمَساكينِ وَابنِ السَّبيلِ كَي لا يَكونَ دولَةً بَينَ الأَغنِياءِ مِنكُم ۚ وَما آتاكُمُ الرَّسولُ فَخُذوهُ وَما نَهاكُم عَنهُ فَانتَهوا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَديدُ العِقابِ

Ali Unal

What God has bestowed on His Messenger as gains of war from the peoples of the townships, (one-fifth of) it belongs to God, and to the Messenger, and his near kinsfolk, and orphans, and the destitute, and the wayfarer (lacking means to sustain a journey), so that it should not become a fortune circulating among the rich among you.¹ Whatever the Messenger gives you, accept it willingly; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it. Keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety. Surely God is severe in retribution.

For an explanation of this distribution, see 8: 41, note 8. The principle laid out in the last sentence - It should not become a fortune circulating among the rich among you - is very important and is a basic characteritic of Islamic economy and social justice. Islam orders people to strive and be industrious; it does not commend begging. However it is a fact that due to human facilities and capacities, people vary in their earning power and their wealth. But in Islam there should be no extremely rich people while there are destitude people. So, through ordinances such as those prescribed and recommended alms as a recompense for fasts that have been broken willingly, or that can not be fulfilled due to extreme old age or permanent illness, and for broken oaths, and unlawful actions such as saying to one’s wife, “You are henceforth as my mother’s back to me,” (see surah 58:1, note 1), it seeks as broad a distribution of wealth as possible, so that the standard of life will be balanced in the community.