The pandemic is getting worse and people of small means or hardly any means, they are finding the going too tough. The date of observance of holy Eid-ul-Azha is also nearing. People of some means are seen to be more charitable now than at other times of the year. Also it needs underlining that the poverty situation is turning so bad that government alone cannot be depended on entirely for deliverance from the deepening poverty. Now is the time for the resourceful in society to loosen their fists and give generously to the poor as supplementary to government’s efforts to reduce the pangs of poverty by fulfilling their moral and religious duties through Zakat.
But Bangladesh today is also a country where one comes across rather unwelcome spectacles of giving Zakat. Many resourceful people are seen distributing mainly petty cash and clothes among poor people as a way of discharging their religious obligation of Zakat. Stampedes are noted sometimes during the month of Ramadan and before the celebration of the Eid-ul-Azha which cause tragic deaths of some of those who scramble in a frenzy to collect cheap cotton saris or lungis given away as Zakat. Sad events like these should have galvanized national thinking about how far such individual demonstrations of charity would be welcome and whether better channeling of resources for charity should be devised and implemented.
As it is, cash and clothes distributed by rich people in Bangladesh during Ramadan and the Eid satisfy to some extent for a brief period basic consumption needs of very poor people. This is not entirely without value but if the same resources could be moblised under a single fund or funds and then utilised to build progressively free feeding centres, shelters for homeless people, houses, hospitals, orphanages, skill training centres and industries to take care of the poor and create skills in them to earn a livelihood , then the same could make a bigger and lasting dent in the poverty situation.
One needs to only recall the example of Prophet Mohammed (SM) in this connection. A poor woodcutter who came to the Prophet (SM) for alms was given an axe by the Prophet. The alms seeker was advised that he could utilize this tool and make a living out of it. The recipient of the axe did so and he no longer had to beg for alms. This should be an evershining example for Muslim peoples all over the world. Affluent Muslims should feel an obligation to carry out their religious duty of giving Zakat. But they should pay the zakat in a manner to help the recipient to help themselves. In this way, the formidable problem of poverty in the Islamic countries can be effectively addressed .
Policy planners in Bangladesh can think over the matter and sensitize people here to pay their Zakat more in this institutional form. But paying the Zakat institutionally is only one aspect of deriving greater value from it. The other aspect is paying it in proportion to one’s surplus wealth as was ordained in the holy Koran. How many well-off people in Bangladesh actually discharge their Zakat obligation very exactly ? Very few indeed.
Most of them pay Zakat negligibly compared to what would be due from them from the estimation of their wealth. Thus, people should be urged to pay Zakat not only in token amounts but in amounts they ought to according to the Koranic instruction. Imams in their sermons in mosques should regularly emphasize this factor. Government should run regular campaigns in the mass media to this end. Government presently runs a central Zakat fund but its activities are very limited compared to the potential.
However, we believe that the size of the centrally operated Zakat fund can become massive — over time — if resourceful people on a large scale can be motivated to send their Zakat to it in rightful proportion to their real wealth. In that case, this fund will surely grow to be a vast one in size. Next thing to be considered would be its operation. The fund will have to be operated by persons with talent, vision and impeccable integrity of character. If such persons take up the responsibility of administering the fund, then it will prove to be a very powerful agent for poverty alleviation and our social transformation.
Nonetheless, it is underlined here that this year, considering the pandemic, people may find merit in paying their Zakat for the short-term needs of helping the poor under very distressful conditions of the pandemic. But once the situation normalizes, they can reorient themselves to the longer term vision of the Zakat as discussed above.