An institution called the 'Maldives Zakat House' has been constituted.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu constituted the institution under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on Monday.

The new office was established under the authority vested to him as per Section 116 of the Constitution of Maldives.

This was announced in a directive issued by the President's Office.

President Muizzu initially announced the establishment of the Maldives Zakat House following a meeting with his Cabinet of Ministers held on December 10.

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 Zakat House has been 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.

As per the numbering system for state agencies, the directive notes that all correspondences to the Maldives Zakat House should use the number 496.

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.