In any case, the manner of prayer and its preliminaries is as the Mahdi performs them, for he is the intermediary in applying Allah’s rulings and the person most knowledgeable about the Sunnah of His Prophet. Whenever he appears among Muslims, he establishes prayer for them in the way it has been legislated; as Allah has said regarding those like him: ﴿الَّذِينَ إِنْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾[1]; “Those who, if We give them power on the Earth, establish prayer,” and He said to His Prophet, who was His caliph on the Earth: ﴿وَإِذَا كُنْتَ فِيهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلَاةَ﴾[2]; “So when you are among them, establish prayer for them.”

[Zakat]

Another example is His command regarding the payment of Zakat, which is alongside His command to perform prayer; as He has repeatedly and emphatically said: ﴿وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ﴾[3]; “And perform prayer and pay Zakat.” Therefore, its payment is obligatory for Muslims just as performing prayer is. Likewise, collecting it from them is obligatory for Allah’s caliph on the Earth; as He has said, addressing him: ﴿خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾[4]; “Take charity from their wealth to purify them with it, and pray for them”—and it is a portion of wealth that he specifies as the intermediary in applying Allah’s rulings. In the same way, according to widely transmitted reports, the Prophet specified a portion of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, gold, silver, camels, cattle, and sheep, depending on the nisab for each, and exempted other types of wealth; and he carried this out as Allah’s caliph on the Earth and the Imam of Muslims. Therefore, it is permissible for Allah’s caliph on the Earth and the Imam of Muslims after him to replace these types of wealth with others or to add to them, according to the circumstances of his time and place. This is because Allah has commanded taking charity from the wealth of Muslims, and in the time and place of the Prophet , their wealth mostly consisted of these nine items, given that they were either farmers, like the people of Medina, and had wheat, barley, dates, and raisins; or were merchants, like the people of Mecca, and had gold and silver; or were herders, like the people of the desert, and had camels, cattle, and sheep. Thus, the specification of these nine items by the Prophet was appropriate for the people of his time and place and in line with taking charity from their common types of wealth, in accordance with Allah’s command. Accordingly, it is permissible for the Prophet’s caliphs appointed by Allah to specify other items in a manner appropriate for the people of their own time and place and in line with taking charity from their common types of wealth, in accordance with Allah’s command. This is not considered a contradiction to the Sunnah of the Prophet ; on the contrary, it is in full accordance with his Sunnah—especially considering that Allah’s purpose in commanding the payment of Zakat has been to prevent the concentration of wealth among the rich and the widening of the class divide among Muslims; as He has said: ﴿كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ مِنْكُمْ﴾[5]; “so that it does not circulate only among the rich among you.”