No fewer than 60 indigent Muslims on Wednesday in Ibadan benefitted from a N7.5 million Zakat distributed by a philanthropist who wished to remain anonymous.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam “mandated on wealthy Muslims to remove a certain percentage of their wealth to the needy in order to reduce poverty among Muslims in the society’’.
The Coordinator of the distribution, Alhaji Ismail Saka, said that the N7.5 million Zakat was donated by one person who preferred to be anonymous and handed over to him for distribution.
Saka said that the selected beneficiaries, who were given between N100,000 and N200,000 each, were recommended by various Muslim organisations in Oyo State.
He said that the beneficiaries of the N7.5 million included the poor, students, widows and those nursing one condition or ailment.
The coordinator said that one of the sick persons that benefited from the Zakat was having Kidney problem and prayed for his quick recovery.
Saka urged wealthy Muslims to ensure they act in accordance with the teachings of Islam, adding that Zakat was an integral part of Islam and would drastically reduce poverty among Muslims if properly paid.
“There is no gain en massing wealth and people beside you are wallowing in abject poverty.
“It is not by your making that Allah gave you wealth. The rich should look back and appreciate Allah by assisting the needy and take care of the less privilege in the society.
“It is by doing this that we can guarantee security in Nigeria and reduce poverty,” he said.
The coordinator urged the beneficiaries to judiciously utilise the money because it was a rear privilege and opportunity which they might never come across again in their lives.
He further called on the beneficiaries to have it in their minds to be givers of Zakat in future by investing the money so that it could multiply for them in future.
The Chairman of the occasion and Secretary, Muslim Community of Oyo State, Alhaji Murziq Siyanbade, called on wealthy Muslims to give Zakat in other to purify their wealth.
Siyanbade said that if wealthy Muslims in the society properly paid their Zakat, poverty would drastically reduce in the society.
The lecturer at the occasion and the Amir Al-Burhan Islamic Organisation, Imam AbdulJeleel Salaudeen, said that Zakat was a way of purifying the wealth of rich Muslims.
Salaudeen said that Islam encouraged people to give and it was more rewarding to give the needy.
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Mr AbdulAkeem Olaniyan, one of the Zakat beneficiaries, who spoke on behalf of others, appreciated the donor and promised they would judiciously utilise the money. (NAN)