Is Zakat really solving problems of the poor?

BY IDDI MUSYEMI

iddi@thenewdawn.info

The moment the Imam pronounced the second “asalaam aleykum” to mark the end of dhuhr prayers, he shot up with a plea for help.

“My brothers in Islam,” he said in a husky whisper. “My wife and children have not eaten in two days because I don’t have the means to support them. Kindly help me and Allah will bless you in this world and hereafter—Insha’Allah.”

Being lunch hour, he must have hoped that his Muslim brothers would understand his predicament and open their wallets to him.

But the congregation was unmoved by his appeal and kept busy in supplication.

For about a minute, the “beggar” stood in front of the seemingly unconcerned congregation confused, until the Imam asked him to step out and wait at the door where he would be lucky to receive some monetary tokens as the worshippers filed out of the mosque. 

Such scenes are common. A spot-check around various mosques in Nairobi reveals that many a “poor” people have turned to these worship centres to beg. Some even flock business premises or office blocks where philanthropic Muslims are known to operate from to either receive food rations or monetary handouts—for these people, begging has become a full time job.

But if there was ever a time Zakat-ul-Mal (alms-giving) was needed, this would be the time as economic hardships push more and more people, Muslims included, into poverty.

The question, therefore, is—is Zakat-ut-Mal achieving its purpose among Muslim communities?  This question is asked because there is a worrying trend where some Muslims are even abandoning Islam because of poverty—while others have resorted to illegal or immoral ventures just in order to eke out a living.

Ustadh Ali Ausat, a panelist on Iqra FM’s Bustani Ya Manufaa radio programme, acknowledges that poverty has become a big threat to the faith and steadfastness of many poor Muslims, blaming the exodus from Islam because of economic constraints to the fact that able Muslims have either abandoned paying Zakat-ul-Mal or perceive this third pillar of Islam as optional. 

He quotes the Quran: “Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allah’s blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is all Hearing and all Knowing.” Al-Tawba (9:103)

Many Muslim scholars have interpreted ‘charity’ in this verse to mean Zakat-ul-Mal, says Ustadh Ali, adding that apart from one fulfilling his obligation to Allah by paying alms, he or she purifies his possessions.

Zakat’ is the Arabic word for “purify.” According to Ustadh Ali, Zakat purifies one’s heart from miserliness and one’s wealth by giving out a portion of it. In return, one’s wealth grows abundantly by Allah’s blessings.

However, Muslims have somehow become tightfisted with Zakat-ul-Mal, thus denying millions of the poor and needy the duty of care that they deserve from their able brethren. 

Amina Abdallah, 45, runs a small business in Nairobi’s Kibera shanty dwelling where she cooks mahamri, bhajia and potato chips for sale to children in the area. She makes KSh1000 in a good month, which goes to paying her KSh1500 house rent per month for the single-roomed mud house; and fees for her two children Yassin, 12, and Twaha,3, who attend a makeshift school in the area.

“The money is never enough but if I can earn at least KSh5000 a month, I would be able to run my business comfortably and live on it,” says Amina.

In Kakamega, Fatuma Musalia Makokha, a widow aged 62, lives with her four children and five grandchildren in Musonga village. After her husband died in 2009, she is solely responsible for the family’s upkeep on  a KSh500 budget.

“That is all I depend on even in the toughest of times,” says the elderly mother.

If these two mothers wished, they would have joined the begging queues around local mosques. But they have demonstrated a willingness to do something for themselves.

“If Muslims paid their Zakat-ul-Mal the way it was intended to be paid, there would be no Muslims suffering in silence or going around begging,” says Ustadh Ali.

According to ustadh Yusuf Nasur, an Imam and community activist in Kibra, the problem with Muslims is misplaced priorities.

“If Muslim business people can pay millions of shillings of their income to the tax authorities, then they should surely be able to pay 2.5 per cent of their income to Zakat,” he argues.

Ustadh Yusuf adds: “Making people queue to receive KSh500 the way many wealthy Muslims do around Nairobi is not Zakat—that amounts to sadaka.  But there is a difference between sadaka and zakat and the two are not interchangeable.”

Moving forward, Ustadh Yusuf says that if Kenyan Muslims could establish an institution to collect and allocate Zakat the way it is prescribed in Islamic teachings, the community would have achieve a lot in  empowering the poor and needy thereby responding effectively to the challenge of poverty that is causing some Muslims to abandon their faith.

“Muslims, especially women and youth, have been forced to go to interest-charging financial institutions to seek loans for their businesses or putting up homes because they lack financial support from within Islam,” says Ustadh Yusuf. 

And this is why Muslims are not making any progress compared to their non-Muslim counterparts because of Allah’s displeasure with Muslims who associate themselves with interest-charging financial transactions.

However, there are some Muslims who give their Zakat to institutions that distribute it on their behalf. Abdulghafur, a Nairobi resident, says his Zakat goes to an Islamic institution whose identity he did not want revealed.  

He says that he chose to channel his Zakat to a credible institution because previously he would give individuals a substantial amount of money whose proper use he is not able to vouch for.  “Some people whom I gave Zakat have come back as beggars,” says Abdulghafur, adding that many of such people lack the capacity to handle substantial amounts of money or have no experience to run a successful business.

Young Muslim Association (YMA) is a widely known and respected institution that collects Zakat in Kenya. Abdullahi Wesamba, Youth and Daawah officer at YMA, says that they have been receiving Zakat-ul-Mal but not from many people.

  

“We collect Zakat-ut-Mal from only ten out of 100 people,” he says. “But we collect more Zakat-ul-Fitr during Ramadhan than we collect Zakat-ul-Mal in a year.”

The money collected is used to maintain an orphanage run by YMA in Garissa, building mosques and paying supplementary allowances for madrassa and Islamic Religious Education teachers.

In other parts of the world, Zakat-ul-Mal and sadaka have proved to be effective financial assistance institutions because of the way they are managed.

Zakat Foundation of American (ZFA), an Islamic charity organisation, has an active presence in western Kenya. According to Mohammed Wangusi, ZFA’s regional representative in East Africa, the organisation depends on Zakat and Sadaka collected from around the world and in turn used to empower poor communities locally and internationally.

“We give grants to self-sustaining projects and programmes aimed at improving social and economic lives of the most vulnerable and needy communities,” says Wangusi.

In view of the challenges facing poor Muslim communities in Kenya, there is need for Muslim scholars, Imams and media to campaign for both the material wellbeing of the faithful just the way they push for their spiritual wellbeing. For the material wellbeing of poor and needy Muslims, the proper management of Zakat cannot be gainsaid. 

Soruce- The New Dawn