Direct Zakat Movement kicks up campaign ‘on ground’

Hyderabad: The Direct Zakat Movement which successfully stirred up the conscience of the Muslim community with its social media campaign has now decided to take forward the crusade at the ‘on ground’. This City based voluntary group has now spread its wings across the State to generate awareness about the eligibility criteria Zakat recipients based on priority highlighted in the the Islamic teachings.

With their experience during the last three years through social media, the group of youngsters have decided to take up the issue of Zakat days ahead of the beginning of Ramzan month, as it is considered that alms giving during the holy month would be rewarded 10 times more than the normal months by Allah. As per the some conservative estimates Zakat collections cross Rs 17,000 crore across the country and Rs 300 crore in Hyderabad alone. 

The members of this voluntary group ask the Zakat payers to stick to the top priorities of donating their hard earned money on destitutes or the closest relatives of their own who are fighting poverty, with the sole purpose of alleviation and making them self-sustained economically. “Our aim is that the Zakat reaches the poor who if supported financially could overcome destitution and stand on his own legs. In this endeavour we shall be taking this year’s campaign ahead on ground, with our material across the State,” said Ishaq Mansoor, convenor, Direct Zakat Movement.

The voluntary group on Saturday released its poster and held a meeting of chalk out campaigning in districts and on social media platforms. Apart from different modes of campaign, Ishaq feels that the word of mouth helps in spreading this message across the community for introspecting where their Zakat is going. Even though some of its members were abused and also attacked earlier, these youngsters are hopeful of reaching out to masses to ensure that they spend their Zakat in accordance with the priorities clearly mentioned in the Islam.

Some of the members opine that each year the Zakat falls into the wrong hands undermining the essence of the practice. Most of those who collect, spend a meagre portion of this charity on listed priorities, but rather end up on spending irrelevant heads. “We are hoping that people stop handing over Zakat to these Fake NGOs. I closed down my own NGO after getting awareness on this subject and joined this movement,” said Raheem, from Warangal district.

BY Md Nizamuddin