The Issue of Anonymity in Digital Zakat
Identity brings in many benefits in the context of zakat distribution (as underlined in my earlier blog). Lack of identity or anonymity on the part of the beneficiaries is certainly …
The Issue of Identity in Digital Distribution of Zakat
My last blog ended on a note that digitizing zakat payments to beneficiaries would be more efficient, as compared to payments involving hard cash or in-kind payments, by avoiding costs related to …
Making Sense of Digital Distribution of Zakat
Zakat may be paid out by an individual muzakki (zakat payer) directly to an individual mustahiq (zakat beneficiary). This is the practice in countries where there is no organized or …
Story of Maimouna from Central Africa
Maimouna is emotional in one of the refugee camps Garisingo in east Cameroon when she recalls the horrific journey she took from Central African Republic (CAR) to Cameroon in 2014 …
Turning to Islamic Finance for Meeting Development Goals – I
It was the year 2006. It was my maiden assignment at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to explore and take stock of the nascent Islamic microfinance sector. Microfinance had caught …
A Smart Campaign for Individual Donors
A “smart campaign” is a familiar term in the context of microfinance that seeks to help the poor. It is about being fully transparent in the pricing, terms and conditions of …
Islamic Social Finance at World Humanitarian Summit
It was an eagerly awaited event. A day before the event, the daily Star of Malaysia published an interview titled “Taking Islamic Social Finance to the World” with HE the …
Should Zakat Be Used for Humanitarian Finance?
On March 26 a very interesting document “An Act of Faith: Humanitarian Financing and Zakat” prepared by Chloe Stirk was launched at an event hosted by Development Initiatives and Muslim Charities Forum …