Gov’t to establish 'Maldives Zakat House' under Islamic ministry

The government is to establish an institution called the 'Maldives Zakat House'.

This was announced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu following a meeting with his Cabinet of Ministers held on Sunday.

The decision to establish the 'Maldives Zakat House' was reached following recommendations, after deliberations were held on a paper submitted by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

The institution is to be established under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

The Zakat House will be established in a bid to reinforce the Maldivian zakat system.

It also carries the purpose of doing the necessary work to expand the Zakat Fund by investing in areas where Sharia has approved Zakat. This in turn leads to an increase in benefits for distributors.

The mechanism of accepting and distributing Zakat Al-Mal, or Zakat on Wealth, and Zakat Al-Fitr, or the Zakat of Fast-Breaking will be improved under this initiative, as a Sharia board will be tasked with overseeing the Zakat system with upgrades in light of contemporary Fiqh.

In addition to this, the initiative will conduct Zakat awareness campaigns extensively, in an attempt to end poverty in the Maldives by enabling those who have been classified as poor, to support themselves financially.

The establishment of 'Maldives Zakat House' is one of the key initiatives in the president's manifesto.