Quran 9:60 does include a zakat category for al-muallafat al-qulub - people whose hearts are to be reconciled. That is real material support, but it is not payment for a coerced or fake conversion. It is a regulated public-welfare category used, according to juristic interpretation, to stabilize vulnerable new Muslims, reduce hostility, avert harm, and build public peace.
What Quran 9:60 Actually Says
The verse lists eight categories of zakat recipients. Some are obvious poverty-relief categories, while others serve wider public interests, such as debt relief, freeing captives, travel assistance, and reconciliation.
Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakat] and for bringing hearts together and for freeing captives and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Quran 9:60
What "Those Whose Hearts Are Reconciled" Means
The Arabic expression al-muallafat al-qulub comes from a root meaning to bring together, join, or make familiar. So the meaning is not "buying faith" in the corrupt sense, but reconciling hearts and removing hostility.
Classical tafsir and fiqh discussions mention several possible applications, depending on need and the judgment of lawful authority, including:
- new Muslims whose faith or social position is fragile and who need support against pressure or instability;
- people of influence whose reconciliation may reduce conflict or protect the Muslim community;
- individuals or groups whose hostility may be averted through fair treatment and public support;
- situations where material assistance helps open the door to peace, trust, and honest engagement.
This is not unique in principle: communities often use public funds for reconciliation, reintegration, post-conflict stability, and preventing harm. The Quran made such spending accountable by placing it within a defined zakat category.
It Is Not Coerced Conversion
The objection fails because Islam does not recognize forced belief as real faith. The Quran states plainly:
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong.
Quran 2:256
So this zakat category cannot mean, "Pay people to make a fake confession." A forced or insincere statement is not iman before Allah. Rather, the category addresses social realities: fear, poverty, tribal pressure, resentment after conflict, or the need to build trust with people who are near the Muslim community.
The Prophetic Practice
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) sometimes gave wealth to certain people while withholding it from others who were stronger in faith. He explained that such giving could be for the recipient's spiritual and social welfare, not because the recipient was more virtuous.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: "I give to a man, while another man is more beloved to me than him, fearing that Allah may throw him into the Fire on his face."
Sahih al-Bukhari 27
Reports about distributions after Hunayn also show the principle of ta'lif al-qulub - reconciling hearts through generosity. It should be noted honestly that not every such distribution was zakat; some were from spoils or other public wealth. But the moral point is the same: material generosity can be used lawfully to heal hostility and stabilize people, not to manufacture fake belief.
Umar's Policy and the Juristic Disagreement
After the Prophet (PBUH), Umar ibn al-Khattab was known to withhold this type of payment from some former recipients when he judged that Islam no longer needed to win their support. Jurists discussed his policy carefully.
They did not all state the issue in one way. Some understood the share as no longer applied when Muslims are strong and there is no need for it. Others held that the category remains part of Quran 9:60 and may be used whenever a legitimate public need returns. Some jurists also differed over whether non-Muslims may receive from this category or whether it is restricted to Muslims whose hearts need strengthening.
This disagreement proves the opposite of the allegation: the matter was treated as a regulated question of public interest, not as an open license to bribe people into false religion.
The Bottom Line
Yes, Quran 9:60 recognizes that money can sometimes reconcile people, reduce harm, and support vulnerable hearts. Islam is realistic about human societies. But it is not "buying converts" in the sense of coercing belief or paying for hypocrisy. It is a lawful zakat category governed by need, public benefit, and the Quranic rule that there is no compulsion in religion.
Related questions include zakat distribution, religious freedom in Islam, and the difference between sincere dawah and coercion.