Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail|17 may 2018| 01 Ramadaan 1439
Zakaah is one of the five fundamental institutions of Islam. It is second only to prayer as an essential article of the faith. Zakaah forms an integral, compulsory and inseparable part of the Islamic way of life. The non-observance or neglect of Zakaah is tantamount to a negation of the faith itself.
The early Meccan revelations emphasized the moral aspect of Zakáh and persuaded Muslims to offer it voluntarily. It was not until the second year of Hijrah that Zakaah was made obligatory on all Muslims.
A solid Islamic financial base is said to be the soundest way to harnessing Zakah, the compulsory cleansing and redistribution of wealth, deemed to be a pillar of the faith. In many parts of the globe, Zakaah is said to be the forgotten pillar, either due to grinding poverty, famine and warfare in Islamic lands, or due to minorities with threatened civil liberties.
Who I discharge my zakaah to?
Sometimes it’s difficult identifying the needy individual’s in our community and it leaves one wondering who to discharge our zakaah funds to. Luckily there are organisations like SANZAF to help us out with this. It is with the generous zakaah contributions from the community that SANZAF is able to empower and educate the deserving individuals.
So it is to organisations such as SANZAF, with its guaranteed infrastructure, its institutional capability and its accountability that I urge you to turn to this Ramadan. As we benefit from the fruits of our Islamic (and other) investments, its Zakaah harvest – as it were – needs a good home.
SANZAF, to put it another way, is the final player in our wealth cycle. By empowering others, it injects uplifting resources back into the community, offers long term opportunity and gives joy to those in the darkest moments of their despair.
Quite appropriate that a recent SANZAF WhatsApp says: “IN THE DARKEST TIMES BE THE LIGHT, STAND UP AND HELP US #GIVEHOPE.
Click here for more information on SANZAF’s various campaigns or to donate today