The Principles Governing Zakat in Islamic Public Finance

Zakat is one of the most sources of Muslims Beit al-mal which, in the period of the rule of the Messenger of Allah and Amir al-Muminin, great importance was attached to it, and a significant part of affairs was managed through it. Considering the necessity of the Islamic governments's modeling from the government of the infallible imams and the need to design an Islamic model for Islamic taxes, the principles that govern the Zakat in the general Islamic tax should be explored. Using library resources and ijtihadi method, the present research, has tried to address this issue. As a result, the two principles of being doctrinal and the principle of public interest are considered to govern Zakat, which is compatible with the right of Allah and the right of man. Principles such as the principle of cultural, social and economic efficiency, the principle of trust and supervision, and the principle of social justice and equity, and several other principles, are under the rubric of principle of general interest and are compared with the corresponding principles in public finance.