HYDERABAD: One of the five pillars of Islam, Zakat , which means to purify, is a religious tax of sorts that requires Muslims to pay a certain amount of their savings as charity to those in need. This could be needy relatives in the family or a complete stranger on the road, though preference is given to family members. While the charity is welcome throughout the year, Zakat takes important precedence during the month of Ramzaan as, for one, it’s an auspicious month and people believe the returns of a good deed are improved upon and secondly, because it gives the lesser privileged the chance to celebrate the most important festival like every one else. “Zakat is an obligatory payment. To call it charity would be an understatement as it is believed that the excess in a person’s wealth is actually the poor man’s money that has been adjusted in the rich man’s account. Thus by giving Zakat , one is merely returning what rightfully belongs to the poor man,” says Asifuddin of the Islamic Academy and Comparative Religion, quoting the late Abul Hasan Ali Aziz who said that if every Muslim paid their Zakat accurately, there would be no poor Muslims in this world, Asifuddin extended the quote to Hyderabad saying, “If every person paid their Zakat in Hyderabad, there would be no poor Muslim in the city.”During the month of Ramzaan, a lot of sporadic charity takes place. Asifuddin opines that the money should in stead be given to a place that systematically uses the money. “By giving it to a poor person, the man is likely to just spend it all. Instead an organisation will systematically provide for a needy child’s education or something equally worthy.”Gyasuddin Babu Khan runs the Hyderabd Zakat and Charitable Trust, an 18 year old institution that has been providing for rural education for about 60 schools, educating an estimated 10,000 children, many of whom have received scholarships. Explains Babu Khan, “We receive an annual turn over of `8 crore in which about 80 per cent goes towards providing education. The point of the trust is to help centralise Zakat spending.” Talking about the practice of giving Zakat , Khan says, “In Andhra Pradesh, about `1,200 to 1,500 crores of Zakat capacity is there, but hardly `60 crores is collected and spent. I estimate that only about five per cent of Muslims give Zakat , out of which a mere one per cent actually calculate the amount accurately.”However, Hyderabad theatre artist, Seema Azharuddin begs to differ on the manner in which Zakat is supposed to be observed. “Many people I know have adopted children or have organised food donations for poor people in their locality. I believe Zakat is willingly donating 1/6th of your earnings to the needy, immaterial of their caste, creed or religion.” The artist has had a religiously diverse upbringing with a Muslim father, devout Shivite mother and a catholic Christian convent education. She adds, “Many of us also cater to handicaps and old people for we think their need is of higher importance than anything else. Donating to the mosque is a good idea too for they also do a lot of community service.”Abdul Khalif, editor of the Telugu fortnightly Islamic Voice, says, “Chapter nine, verse 60 of the Quran specifically lists out who the charity is meant for. It lists the poor and needy, its fund-raising employees, those in bondage and debt and those whose hearts are to be won by mercy.” He adds there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to Zakat. Khalif goes on to explain that the word Eid-ul-Fitr comes from the tradition of Fitra where two-and-a-half kilograms of any cereal or food grain is donated per head in the family before prayer. Preference for donations start with family members on the paternal side an then maternal side. For obvious reasons, immediate family members like children do not count for they naturally are a person’s responsibility.On the whole, obligatory or not, the month of Ramzaan induces a magnanimous spirit amongst its followers, cultivating a healthy spirit of generosity and thankfulness.
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