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Ramadan sets the agenda for those who want to give Zakat and those who want to collect Zakat. Majority of Muslims consider it as auspicious to disburse Zakat during the Ramadan.
Looking at the entire system of Zakat collection and Zakat disbursement, it is torturous for both Zakat payers and Zakat recipients. For the entire month, those who want to pay Zakat, face the painful onslaught of people who want their share of Zakat.
Those who deserve Zakat, compete with those who launch and manage mega and micro projects. In the process, those who pay Zakat, many times neglect their own poor relatives. In fact poor relatives should have the first right over the Zakat.
The plight of the Zakat collectors who collect Zakat on behalf of Islamic organizations, non government organizations and Madrasas is pitiable as they have to struggle for the appointment and also wait endlessly to get their share.
Allah enjoins the Muslims to pioneer a Zakat-based community. What is the ritual of zakat all about, beyond the surface? A little introspection in this respect helps us decipher the essence of Zakat and charity. Charity, when practiced in the true Islamic spirit, inculcates in us a genuine concern for the destitute and needy and leaves no place for parade and vanity; as Allah the Supreme admonishes: “A kind word with forgiveness is better than almsgiving followed by injury. Allah is Absolute, Clement. O you who believe! Render not vain your almsgiving by reproach and injury…” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 264).
A major portion of Zakat should go to the poor. Ironically, there are many stake holders who dilute the Zakat fund. There are projects within the community, catering to middle class funded by Zakat. It seems that those who deserve Zakat are left in the lurch and many a time, non- priority projects get the substantial share of the Zakat fund at the cost of the poor and destitute.
According to the study conducted by Islamic Voice last year, majority of the Muslim organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who collect Zakat in the month of Ramadan, spend their resources on education or health care.
But it will be better if they soon start realizing that unless they fulfill the economic need of the community, the impact of their social development initiatives will be very limited.
Last year, a study conducted by Islamic Voice in association with Trend Research and Analysis Center (TRAC) reveals the following areas of focus for the Zakat / donation funds allocation:
1.Secular Education - 23 %
2. Religious education - 19%
3. Health care - 17%
4. Help to Poor and needy - 11%
5. Orphanage - 10%
6. Poor relatives - 08%
7. Economic need - 05%
8. Other - 07%
Education and health care gets more than 50 per cent of the financial aid in the form of Zakat and donations. Unfortunately economic need hardly get any share of funds. What are the areas which needs urgent attention for the economic upliftment of the community? To find an answer, Islamic Voice in association with Trend Research and Analysis Center (TRAC) conducted a random survey asking Muslim youth, professionals, elite and religious scholars ‘what should be the focus area to achieve the over all development of the Muslim community’. The sample size was 59.
The major issues which need urgent attention and financial resources as identified by the Muslim youth are as under:
1. Imparting of skills to make deprived section of the community financially self sufficient
2. Distributing a part of Zakat to non Muslim poor so that they develop a soft corner for Islam
3. Making available micro credit to those who live in slums and in rural areas where financial assistance does not reach.
4. Making available the professional help to madrasas so that they can impart the professional training to the students so that the madrasas graduates can be absorbed in the corporate world.
The Survey also revealed four major gaps in the distribution of Zakat/ donation:
1. Lack of involvement of the Zakat payer in the effective disbursement of the fund
2. Lack of professional approach in identifying the real needs and issues at both micro level and macro level
3. The network of organizations which collect Zakat / donation on behalf of the poor are not accountable and the leak is enormous.
4. Lack of authentic data about the deprived section of the community at the micro level.
The need is to conduct an effective study on the current system of Zakat collection and disbursement. There are numerous Zakat payers who desperately want data and information on various projects and issues confronting the community.
Since authentic studies and data are hardly available, most of the Zakat payers give Zakat to those who approach them irrespective of the priority. Its time for the middle class to contribute by ways of studying the Zakat system and suggest ways and means to seal the leak and make the system better and more productive, so that the most deprived section of the community benefit as they should.
Zakat means growth. Zakat is not tax. Zakat is the right of the poor. Zakat literally means “to purify”, Zakat is designed for purifying both one’s possessions and prejudices. Thus, Zakat elevates our morality and encourages us to strive towards an economically balanced world ensuring basic happiness and freedom to all its citizens.
The entire Zakat system should be pro poor oriented. Currently, the poor face lot of humiliation. The Zakat payer and those who disburse Zakat should understand that they are not doing any favour by giving Zakat. It’s the right of the poor and the dignity of the poor should never be compromised.
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