Updated 2 December 2009
On 4 November 2009, The World Federation, represented by the Assistant Secretary General for Islamic Education, Shaykh Abbas Ismail and the NGO manager Imran Janmohamed, attended a workshop organised by the Muslim Charities Forum. The focus of the workshop was to find a common view for the understanding of Zakaat between several organisations working in relief and international development. The workshop was held in central London, UK, at the headquarters Islamic Relief UK. The Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) is a newly formed umbrella organisation of UK based Muslim charities whose goal is to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world. Several organisations such as Human Appeal International, Human Relief Foundation, Muslim Hands and Islamic Relief and Ummah Welfare Trust were present.
Br. Abdul Rajab Ali, the Deputy Manager of Islamic Relief UK welcomed the delegates to their offices. This was followed by a short presentation by Rianne Tanveen, from Islamic Relief WorldWide, on the importance of Zakaat highlighting the fact that there was need for shared understanding on the concept. The Chairman of the Muslim Charities Forum, Dr Hany El Banna OBE began the day by welcoming the delegates from the different organisations for attending the workshop, while the Coordinator of the MCF, Abdulrahman Shariff presented the Agenda for the day.
This was followed by a brief discussion by the delegates from the various organisations on their thoughts and views, and how they wished to conduct the discussions. Shaykh Abbas highlighted the key differences between Zakaat and Khums within the Shia perspective, and how the system of Marjaiyyah and Khums can offer such immense potential for work to be undertaken due to the Marja’s excellent awareness of issues in the global Shia community and his determination to empower communities with relevant resources. He stated that it was the ultimate authority of scholars like Ayatullah Sistani to collect the Khums and use it for worthy projects, or by his trusted wakeels, who had the ability to use the funds based on Ayatullah Sistani’s guidance.
The day followed by two small group discussions which covered areas such as the intricacies of Zakaat and other charitable giving, definitions of the recipients of Zakaat, the scope of the expenditures of Zakaat and the administrative costs. One key element of the discussions was on the use of administration costs from Zakaat (or any other charitable giving). In one of the groups, a poll of the 6 large and small NGOs was held. The results showed that 5 of 6 charged administration costs between 7 – 15 %, or project based costs which can sometimes be up to 50 %. One of the charities did not charge any administration cost; however, they were able to recover their admin costs from other sources such as charity shops.
The workshop concluded with a consensus that further sessions were need with scholars and delegates on the concept of Zakaat and to provide a general narrative on the general understanding of Zakaat and other charitable giving and its uses.
Shaykh Abbas Ismail said, “This was an excellent workshop where The World Federation was recognised as a key Muslim organisation that could add value to the agenda through its experience. We were able to communicate some of our best practices and highlight the strengths around Khums and Marjaiyyah. It was also interesting to hear the challenges faced by other organisations and how they deal with them. We realised that to have the guidance of Ayatullah Sistani that is based on piety and justice is a great bounty indeed.”
For further information, email NGO@world-federation.org