The Muslim community needs to persistently increase the awareness and reinforcement on why Zakat must be paid, for massive economic empowerment and poverty alleviation in the country.
The immediate past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Ustadh Zikrullahi Hassan made this justification, on Sunday, in Lagos.
He made the advocacy at the just concluded 2024 Zakat Distribution ceremony put together by The Companion, an association of Muslim men in business and the professions.
In an interview with journalists, Ustadh Hassan said: “What we have as a cumulative amount of Zakat today is still insignificant, therefore, we are unable to solve many areas of problems Muslims are facing.”
To change the narrative, Hassan stressed that stakeholders should continue to emphasize why Zakat must be paid and attendant punishment from Allah against those who can pay, but decline.
Apart from payment, Ustadh Hassan advised that the enlightenment should equally discourage the mindset that collection of Zakat is year-on-year-out, rather, to ease difficulty, develop business and take people out of the poverty line.
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“We need to up the knowledge of entrepreneurship. Sometimes, when people get money, they lack knowledge of productive things to do with it, so, we need to have regular sessions for training, for would be beneficiaries of Zakat for their benefits and their families” Ustadh Hassan maintained.
Responding to the question relating to underpaying Zakat beneficiaries, the former NAHCON boss said every distribution depends on the available funds.
He asserted: “If you have more money, but don’t know how to turn it over, you could end up wasting it. Therefore, those who collect Zakat for business must know and understand how to succeed and survive” in it.
With respect to trust on the part of Zakat collectors, Ustadh Hassan indicated that the annual increase in the cumulative Zakat gathered suggested openness, unlike before that charity was just entrusted in the hands of one person – who expectedly claimed that the needful has been done.
While comparing professional begging with the rackets that happen in the political economic empowerment – where items given out, are subsequently sold out, Ustadh Hassan warned the perennial otherwise called “professional beggars”, declared that such folks would suffer the consequences of their action, stressing that the best thing the beneficiaries could do was to use Zakat for the purpose mentioned at the application stage.
He restated if this is done, Allah would bless the collection.
While delivering the theme of the exercise captioned: “Zakat: Pathway to Purification, Growth and Poverty Alleviation”, the former NAHCON Chairman declared that being a recipient of Zakat did not amount to being a failure in life.
He restated that charity is Allah’s injunction, saying that when it’s paid, it purifies wealth, assuring that paying would never pauperise the benefactors.
Ustadh Hassan established that the poverty level was higher among Muslims, urging the Zakat distributing organisations to work on eradicating professional begging.
He suggested blacklisting of notorious regular beggars, tasking The Companion on monitoring the recipients and ensuring they use it purposely and subsequently become viable to pay in the succeeding years.
The Chairman of the ceremony and former Senior Project Manager, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Alhaji Misbaudeen Adeyemi Suara, commended the organiser over due diligence and called for mentorship.
Alhaji Suara urged the organisation to organise regular engagement sessions, where the Zakat beneficiaries could be trained on better ways to do, develop and expand their businesses.
In his welcome address at the occasion, The Companion National Amir, Engr. Kamil Olalekan recalled that the Zakat funds was established in 2012 with a twin purpose of assisting qualified Muslims to fulfil their zakat obligation and providing a platform to give assistance to needy Muslims and others who require financial and other forms of support.
“Our overall goal is to seek the pleasure of Allah on all parties (i.e. the giver, the taker and the mediator)” Amir said.
He added: “It is common knowledge that zakat is the 3rd pillar of Islam, yet, it is without doubt the most neglected by many Muslims. The negligence is out of ignorance for some while for others it is out of carelessness.
“As a Muslim organisation, The Companion has noted with concern that there are many qualified Muslims who ordinarily should pay zakat and genuinely wanted to fulfil their zakat obligation but require little prompting. On the other hand, there are also many needy Muslims in various categories such as widows, orphans, the sick, poor, indigent, etc. who also genuinely need assistance to cope with the vicissitudes of life especially at a time when Nigeria is touted as the poverty capital of the world and Muslims are arguably the greatest victims of the poverty index.
“The need to therefore channel support to our Muslim brothers and sisters in line with the sharia prompted The Companion to create this platform. We are aware that a few other Muslim organisations are engaged in the collection and distribution of zakat but the truth is that given our population and spread, we really need more of such organisations to genuinely reach out to both the givers and the receivers. We also need the expertise which is lacking in most Muslim organisations”.
While calling on the beneficiaries of the Zakat to make good use of the collections, Engr. Olalekan commended the Federal Government on the take-off of the National Education Loan Fund which he noted hopefully, would assist the indigent students in tertiary institutions to complete their studies.
He called on indigent Muslim students to take full advantage of the window to enrol for tertiary education, as the loan is interest free and in compliance with the Shariah.
The Chairman of The Companion Zakat Funds, Imam Nojeem Jimoh, in interview with newsmen at the event revealed that the improvement from the N25 million in the first year to N42 million in the fourth year of the fund indicated that the level of awareness was better, still, he advocated for more awareness, so as to keep improving on the collection and expand the scope of beneficiaries.
He revealed the classification of distribution to include: business development for those who understand the line of their businesses; critical health care conditions, scholarship and economic empowerment.
Earlier in his address, Imam Jimoh who doubles as the National Noib Amir of The Companion, disclosed that the presentation ceremony was meant to be a testimony that Muslims also support themselves.
The Chief Host and Lagos District Amir, Alhaji Abdul Kabir Olayiwola Baruwa linked the success story of the funds in successive years to good sensitisation and perception that The Companion is a veritable platform to give and distribute Zakat to the needy.
Moving forward, Baruwa affirmed that the organisation planned to intensify on sensitisation, most especially, justifying the need for prospective Muslims to pay Zakat, noting that many hold back in paying, because they didn’t have a trusted body to discharge the spiritual obligation to.
“The Companion has credibility, integrity and reputation, which is the reason for good patronage. We will ensure that more people are encouraged and be driven into the payment net, the District Amir stressed.
Baruwa confirmed that a total of 630 applications were received this year, with Lagos recording about 312 applicants, adding that after rigorous screening interview exercise, 102 applicants (from Lagos applications) were adjudged to be successful and were the various categories of recipients at the weekend distribution ceremony.
He disclosed that there were applicants who received N.5 million and more under business support category.
Speaking on the roles of women in Zakat payment and distribution, Permanent Secretary/Tutor-General, Education District VI, Lagos State, Dr. Shariffah Yusuf urged women to identify fellow folks who are in need, after, discover what they could do and subsequently use this to determine the empowerment that would be extended to them.
Like other guests, Dr. Yusuf called for monitoring of how beneficiaries utilise the Zakat, asserting that charity was not meant to be spent on frivolities.
On NELFUND, the Lagos TG/PS warned against considering the scheme as the national cake, appealing to all stakeholders “to stand up and ensure that the scheme is run” and administered in strict compliance to the purpose it was established.
Two among the elated beneficiaries – Fatai Azeez Akinbode, a PhD student from Economics department, Lagos State University and Aisha, a fashion designer thanked the organisation for creating the distribution platform, pledged judicious use of their collection and called other Muslim organisations to replicate similar gesture, hoping to be in the payment net in the nearest future.
The Companion 2024 Zakat distribution exercise started in May with the online application, proceeded with the sorting of applicants, screening interview shortlisted candidates and climaxing with distribution at the various Districts, including: Kwara, Oyo, Osun, Abuja and Lagos.
The ceremony was graced by the National, District executives, as well as leaders of the organisation at various levels.