By Ibrahim Kangwa Chibwe
The South African National Zakah Fund’s (SANZAF) International Zakah Conference began on Friday with a special emphasis on the empowerment of impoverished families. SANZAF, which always adhere to best practice in terms of governance and compliance, has attracted international speakers from across the globe.
At the conference, key note speaker, Professor Osman Ahmed Hassan Khieri, head of the advanced strategic council of the global union of Zakat Rite in Sudan, told VOC News of the importance of Zakah and how it differs from the main western mainstream of donors. He cited Sudan, Bosnia, Mali as some of the areas where needy families have been helped.
“We have been in all these countries to help, but when it comes to reporting, the media does not talk about Zakah, they talk about other western agencies, he said.
Other guests included Dr. Nunuang Nurul Hidayah, a lecturer at the Aston Business School in the UK, with a research scholar background at the Islamic Research and Training Institute – Islamic Development Bank. She held the position of lecturer and Head of Accounting Department for 10 years at the University of Al Azhar in Indonesia.
“Zakah organisations are not separate institutions. Zakah is part of our lives. One of the problems for Zakah institutions is the paying of auditor’s fees. The solution is to get auditors [from the local community] who have the capability to chip in and contribute,” she said.
On Saturday, the international conference entered its second and final day, with the emphasis on the role of Zakah on the fulfilment of basic needs of the poor. Muhammad Lawley Maidoki, chairman of the Zakah and endowment commission in the Sokoto states of Nigeria was the keynote speaker.
The NGO is a fully fledged Commission of the state responsible for: flood victims, fires, internally displaced persons, health assistance including disabled and psychiatric assistance; rehabilitation of the needy, 500 000 Ramadaan packages, and the distribution of 15 million naira.
Ziyaat Isaacs, Managing Partner at Ethis Africa an Islamic crowd-funding start-up based in South Africa, discussed crowd-funding and the ethos of Islamic crowd-funding in an interesting presentation.
Amongst the other speakers were SANZAF’s first national chairperson Fayruz Mohamed, Western Cape chairperson Moulana Hassiem Cassiem, presenting Moulana Ihsaan Hendricks from the Al Quds Foundation, Shamsuddin Bolatito, the executive manager and African Co-ordinator of Global Union of Zakat Rite in Sudan.
Other issues on the agenda were financial planning, Zakah and Islamic finance as well as entrepreneurship. VOC 91.3fm
