MUZASAF urges Muslims to fulfil zakat obligation

A charity, the Muslim Zakat and Sadaqah Foundation (MUZASAF), has stressed the need for all Muslims to meet the yearly zakat obligation as a means of purifying their wealth and reducing crime in the country.

MUZASAF emphasised that it is the responsibility of every Muslim to care for others and zakat payment ensures an even distribution of wealth and engenders social and community development.

The chairman of the organisation’s board of trustees, Sulaiman Adedokun, at an event, in Lagos, recently, said: “Here is a world of uneven distribution of wealth with inequality increasing at such an alarming rate, but the Creator has not left the world with such a problem unattended to. Zakat as well as sadaqah represent solutions to a critical slice of the global problems and also provide opportunities to earn greatest favour.

“Allah (SWT) established zakat as a compulsory act of worship out of His mercy and also sadaqah for both who can pay zakat as well as those who are not qualified to pay it, so that the gap between the haves and the haves-not would be covered to a very large extent,” Adedokun said.

He lamented that “many of us today are unconscious of our status as far as zakat payment is concerned while we worry significantly on many trivial things.”

He enjoined Muslims to fulfil the third pillar of Islam which, he noted, is as compulsory as solat.

“We are so conversant with solat and very ignorant of zakat. Yet Allah mentions the two in the Qur’an like an umbilical cord; that one complements the other.

“These experiences have further reinforced my belief that what you give out is what belongs to you. So, zakat and sadaqah are for you and MUZASAF is but a credible platform to create an effective reach to the downtrodden who petition Allah daily. This class of people lives a plan designed by Allah and not their making. Your ability to effect both zakat and sadaqah is also a privilege and blessing of Allah (Ar-Rahamah) and not yours,” he said.

The Director-General of MUZASAF, Mutiu Olajobi, said the organisation had impacted the lives of so many Muslims across Nigeria since it started operation in 2013.