Practical and ethical issues
There are many practical and ethical reasons why a 100% Zakat policy cannot actually work. Raising and managing funds has inherent costs; they include the costs of receiving, processing and managing donations as well as providing feedback and fundraising. These are costs that all charities incur without exception. In order to ensure a 100% Zakat policy, funds have to be drawn from other types of donations.
In practice this means that disproportionate funds would be drawn from other ‘pots’ such as Sadaqah to cover the costs associated with managing and processing Zakat donations. This can mean those who have donated their Sadaqah in Ramadan or at other times of year are having a much larger portion of their donation deducted (often unknowingly) to cover costs elsewhere. This raises ethical issues about how funds are used without the donor’s knowledge or express consent.
Our Approach
All funds raised by LRBT UK are used solely to support the work of Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust and all donations are used by LRBT as advised by their Shariah Advisor, Mufti Muhammad Ibrahim Essa from Alhamd Shariah Advisory Services (PVT) Ltd.
At the LRBT UK, we keep all the categories of donations clear and avoid overlap. Rather than taking money from other pots, we know it is religiously valid and ethically right to use a small percentage of the actual Zakat donation to administer that donation and generate further funds. Above all, this is the approach to Zakat prescribed by Allah (swt) in the Qur’an when defining how Zakat may be used. This means that giving a small portion of your Zakat donation to us is completely permissible and allows us to ensure your Zakat is handled with the utmost care and it is distributed efficiently and effectively to those who really need it.
In His eternal and infinite wisdom, Allah (swt) ordained that one of the categories of people eligible to receive a portion of the Zakat funds are the administrators of Zakat (al ’amilina alayha). These are those who are responsible for collecting, storing, guarding, registering and distributing Zakat. In fact, this category of people comes third only after the poor (al-fuqara) and needy (al-masakin). It is not only understood that there will be costs incurred when collecting and distributing Zakat, but a whole category was dedicated for this purpose precisely so we may be open and transparent in where funds are spent.
LRBT UK Zakat Policy
Our detailed Zakat policy can be found here
Zakat FAQ’s
According to the Qur’an (Surah At-Tawbah 9:60), Zakat is distributed among eight categories (asnaf) of beneficiaries:
- Do non-Muslim’s pay Zakat?
Zakat is only mandated for Muslims
2. I have donated many times throughout the year; do I still have to pay Zakat?
Zakat must be paid with the intention of paying Zakat.
3. I have not donated for a number of years, how do I work out what I owe?
Take a starting date and work out how much wealth you had at the end of that year. If you are unsure how much wealth you had, estimate it and donate 2.5%
4. Should I include my savings for Hajj in my wealth?
Yes
5. How do I treat money that I lent to someone?
You must include it in your wealth as it will come back to you.
