Eligibility
Zakah is one of the five pillars of Islam, and it is obligatory on every sane Muslim to pay this, providing that they have held a minimum amount of wealth (“nisab”) for one whole year.
Zakah Giving
What is wealth?
Zakah is payable on cattle, crops, gold, silver, and money held in accounts as savings. Zakah is not payable for instance on food, clothes and the car that you drive.
How much?
Zakah is set at 2.5%. You can work out how much you have to pay by applying 2.5% to your savings, bearing in mind you must have held it for 12 months.
How do we apply your Zakah?
The virtues of Zakah are significant, it essentially means growth and purification, and is a means of purifying one’s wealth in the way prayer purifies one’s soul. It is a counterbalance to greed and selfishness, and a mercy for the poor and destitute as it liberates them for the humiliation of begging. It transforms lives and alleviates poverty.
We have to ensure your money is spent strictly on the poor, and the orphan children on whom it is permissible to also spend. We also spend a small percentage on those who distribute zakah on our behalf in Africa, which is a permitted category. We do not mix these funds for use on any of our projects such as madrasah construction or water projects.
01Feed the Poor Campaigns
We distribute food to the poor, orphans, widows and the elderly throughout the year. We feed an average of around 2,000 to 3,000 people in Ramadhan alone. We visit rural villages both on Zanzibar and on other islands like Pemba and Uzi and deliver food packages to families who are eligible to receive zakah.
02Livelihood Projects
Our livelihood projects are designed to help those have the skills and have the drive and business flair to become autonomous and self-sufficient. We use your zakah money to carefully invest in people to allow them to set up a business and we monitor, train and provide guidance for small businesses to grow.
The people that we help with a cash injection interest free loan, eventually become self-sufficient and no longer need our assistance. They then mentor others in the same trade. We recycle the loan and use it to help other aspiring entrepreneurs who do not have a means to stand on their feet and kick poverty.
Our projects are very diverse and tailored to the individual needs of the families we choose to support and empower. For example, we have helped groups of widows start their own poultry businesses, assisted fishermen with boats and equipment, and provided milling machines to start up rice and flour businesses.
Our livelihood work has been extremely successful in helping the poor climb out of poverty and stand on their own two feet. We make your zakah count, every time.
The Prophet (SAW) said:
“ It is better that a person should take a rope and bring a bundle of wood on his back to sell so that Allah may preserve his honour, than that he should beg from people (regardless of whether they give to him or refuse him). ”
[Sahih al-Bukhari]
03Orphans Home Builds
We use your donations to build orphan homes which cost between £2,500 – £3,000 and provide a solid breeze block home for an orphan family. Sometimes we use your zakah to repair an existing home for an orphan family. We work also on islands like Pemba, which has one of the highest numbers of orphans and widows in Zanzibar.
We have helped to build many homes for orphan families, transforming their makeshift shelter homes into solid, sustainable, constructs. Give an orphan family a home they can live in with dignity and pride. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet (SAW), said:
“The person who strives on behalf of the widows and poor is like those who strive in the way of Allah and like those who fast in the day and pray at night. ”
[Adab al-Mufrad of Imam Al-Bukhari in the chapter “The Virtue of Those Who Care for Orphans”]