Foundation disburses N148m Zakat proceeds
Academic and religious scholars have called for legislation to institutionalise payment of zakat by wealthy Muslims as an effective step to reduce poverty. They made the call at the 2017 Zakat Distribution organised by the Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) in Lagos. Zakat is the payment made annually under Islamic law on certain kinds of […]
Academic and religious scholars have called for legislation to institutionalise payment of zakat by wealthy Muslims as an effective step to reduce poverty.
They made the call at the 2017 Zakat Distribution organised by the Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) in Lagos.
Zakat is the payment made annually under Islamic law on certain kinds of property and used for charitable and religious purposes.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam.
The foundation distributed cash and materials totalling N148.28 million to 494 beneficiaries in Lagos State.
Speaking at the occasion in Lagos, Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr AbdulHakeem Abdul-Lateef, called on relevant organisations to sponsor bills in the House of Assembly and in the National Assembly for the Federal Government to institutionalise payment of zakat.
Abdul-Lateef said that Zakat was meant to help the needy, regardless of their religion.
He, therefore, expressed the belief that members of the public must understand why it was important to push private member bill in support of zakat institution.
He said: “As important as zakat is, the redistribution of wealth is what can save the economy; and we are not poor, it is just that we have refused to redistribute wealth. So, members of the civil society organisations and leaders, as well as citizens, generally can call for the institution of zakat to help the poor.”
ZSF Executive Director Prince Sulaiman Olagunju, said that as at October 2017, the foundation mobilised zakat collection totalling N191,104,352.
According to Olagunju, the figure showed an increase of N71,907,592 over zakat collection of N119,196,760 last year.