As the month of Ramadan continues, the Elders Consultative Forum of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Oyo State chapter, has distributed N2.4 million as zakat to some indigent Muslims in the state, Insideoyo.com has gathered.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that at the ceremony, last weekend, in Ibadan, the sixth to be held by the body, the money was shared out among 132 beneficiaries, who were admonished to make the most of the funds.
The chairman of the forum, Alhaji Lasun Sanusi (SAN), said the body screened the beneficiaries and determined their needs before arriving at the number.
According to him, the biggest beneficiaries collected the sum of N100,000 each, while the least amount of money that went to some key other recipients was N25,000.
Alhaji Sanusi identified lack of education as one of the factors impeding the payment of zakat by many eligible Muslims in the state.
The senior advocate, who lamented the lack of the understanding of the significance of the institution of zakat, emphasised that the religious tax is as important as every other pillar of Islam and next in ranking, according to the Qur’an, after the five daily obligatory prayers.
The chairman on the occasion, Honourable Mikail Alarape, a former speaker of the Oyo State of Assembly urged well-meaning Muslims to redistribute their wealth by paying zakat regularly, saying a failure to do this had been responsible for a high level of poverty among Muslims.
