Zakat fund keeps poverty at bay
Sunday, 26 August 2012
FE Report
Proper disbursement of Zakat fund among the needy masses has played a vital role in poverty alleviation of a village in Comilla district.
Poor villagers of Dekra under Alkara union of Chouddagram upazilla in Comilla district are now passing 'better days' instead of hardship because of the annual zakat fund disbursed by Syed Abu Zafar Shamim, a Dhaka-based businessman who hails from this village.
Visiting the village on the day of zakat fund disbursement recently, this correspondent found a lot of poor villagers to stand in a long queue to receive the money.
"I received Tk 25,000 today as zakat fund, I will buy a cow with this money which will give me a permanent support against poverty," Bendu Bibi, a poor villager said.
Without any bread and butter of her poor family, Bendu Bibi now sees a ray of hope to survive without begging.
Like Bendu, many others of the poor segment in the village are now being benefitted towards their journey to be self-employed with the zakat fund disbursed through Syed Abdul Mannan Foundation, founded by Mr Shamim.
Mr Shamim established this organization in memory of Syed Abdul Mannan, a valiant freedom fighter who embraced martyrdom during the Liberation War in 1971.
Mannan is the uncle of Mr Shamim.
"In compliance with our Islamic rules, I came forward in 2007 to start this mission and with the mercy of Almighty Allah, I like to develop and expand this scheme to a large extent," Mr Shamim told The FE.
He said poverty at the national level will be wiped out, if every rich person comes forward to disburse zakat fund in a structured way in compliance with Islamic rules.
Many leading economists of the developing
countries based on their academic insights pinpoint that without alleviating institutional injustices and ensuring poor people's access to resources and services poverty cannot be eradicated. Thus, championing poor people's right to credit is just not good enough. Access of poor people to resources has to be recognized to delve with mass poverty that aptly justifies accumulation of resources by poor people.
At the heart of Zakat and other donations or charities in Islamic social system lies the spirit of addressing inequality and ensuring resource transfer from the rich to the poor. Islam recognizes unequivocally poor people's share in the resources of the rich. The collective responsibility of the community and of the state is central to successful poverty alleviation approach in Islam.
"Zakat set by Almighty Allah is an economic tool for bringing prosperity to the poor and needy. It is a social enterprise engaged in mobilization and proper distribution of wealth in an organized and planned manner following the principles of institutional management as per the guidance of Islamic Shariah," Mr Shamim said.
Experts said Zakat funds, if collected and managed properly, could be used to create a pool of funds which can be used in financing development activities and can replace government expenditures.
Proper disbursement of Zakat fund among the needy masses has played a vital role in poverty alleviation of a village in Comilla district.
Poor villagers of Dekra under Alkara union of Chouddagram upazilla in Comilla district are now passing 'better days' instead of hardship because of the annual zakat fund disbursed by Syed Abu Zafar Shamim, a Dhaka-based businessman who hails from this village.
Visiting the village on the day of zakat fund disbursement recently, this correspondent found a lot of poor villagers to stand in a long queue to receive the money.
"I received Tk 25,000 today as zakat fund, I will buy a cow with this money which will give me a permanent support against poverty," Bendu Bibi, a poor villager said.
Without any bread and butter of her poor family, Bendu Bibi now sees a ray of hope to survive without begging.
Like Bendu, many others of the poor segment in the village are now being benefitted towards their journey to be self-employed with the zakat fund disbursed through Syed Abdul Mannan Foundation, founded by Mr Shamim.
Mr Shamim established this organization in memory of Syed Abdul Mannan, a valiant freedom fighter who embraced martyrdom during the Liberation War in 1971.
Mannan is the uncle of Mr Shamim.
"In compliance with our Islamic rules, I came forward in 2007 to start this mission and with the mercy of Almighty Allah, I like to develop and expand this scheme to a large extent," Mr Shamim told The FE.
He said poverty at the national level will be wiped out, if every rich person comes forward to disburse zakat fund in a structured way in compliance with Islamic rules.
Many leading economists of the developing
countries based on their academic insights pinpoint that without alleviating institutional injustices and ensuring poor people's access to resources and services poverty cannot be eradicated. Thus, championing poor people's right to credit is just not good enough. Access of poor people to resources has to be recognized to delve with mass poverty that aptly justifies accumulation of resources by poor people.
At the heart of Zakat and other donations or charities in Islamic social system lies the spirit of addressing inequality and ensuring resource transfer from the rich to the poor. Islam recognizes unequivocally poor people's share in the resources of the rich. The collective responsibility of the community and of the state is central to successful poverty alleviation approach in Islam.
"Zakat set by Almighty Allah is an economic tool for bringing prosperity to the poor and needy. It is a social enterprise engaged in mobilization and proper distribution of wealth in an organized and planned manner following the principles of institutional management as per the guidance of Islamic Shariah," Mr Shamim said.
Experts said Zakat funds, if collected and managed properly, could be used to create a pool of funds which can be used in financing development activities and can replace government expenditures.