text: Lots of organizations help those who are down and out, including Christian and entirely secular organizations. It can get blurry whether or not some of these organizations help people in order to be in a position to proselytize to those down on their luck or if they do it strictly out of a charitable impulse. 
  A different approach to charity is that of the Islamic faith called Zakat--the third pillar of Islam. Zakat consists of the compulsory giving of a set proportion of one's wealth to charity and is considered a type of worship and of self-purification. Freeing oneself from the love of possessions and greed, from the love of money and from love of oneself are some of the major goals of this ritual giving. What's interesting about this approach is the focus on how giving edifies the giver rather than the receiver. Sometimes it seems like the Christian approach has more to do with providing social status to the giver. In Zakat, the donations are frequently private or anonymous.