Pragmatic wrote:
I thought of "boost" as capturing both the growth/lifting meaning of Zakat and the other meaning in the transitive version "zakka" (recommend/endorse).
Excellent line of thought. I think the dilemma of translating Zakah is in coming up with a word that conveys the two meanings: improving quantity and improving quality. As I consult the thesaurus, I find many words that can be used for both, such as: Cultivate, Enhance, Foster.
Let's keep brainstorming about this. I think it's possible to find a word, or a short phrase, which can be uniformly used, if we keep in mind the finite set of usage of the word in the Quran. The primary usage is as follows:
- Pure person, as in also 18:74, 19:13 and 19:19
- Purified soul, as in also 24:21
- Purified wealth, as in
- The ritual alms giving, as in and many others.
I'd use "purify" for the the first two usage items. I'm inclined to use "alms" for the last two items but wish there is a better fitting word.