Da’wah Front of Nigeria, Abeokuta chapter, has empowered 18 successful applicants through its 4th Zakaat programme on Sunday.

At the distribution exercise held at the Egba Central Mosque in Kobiti Abeokuta, the Organisation distributed the empowerment items worth N3.4m to the 18 successful applicants.

Speaking during the exercise, the National Coordinator of the organization, Alhaji Musliudeen AbdulGafar who identified Zakaat as an injunction of Allah in Qur’an 9 verse 103, enjoined all other sister organisations to take a cue from Da’wah Front.

Represented by the Deputy National Coordinator of the organization, Professor Sheriffdeen Adewuyi, Aljahi Musliudeen identified Zaakat as a way of tackling the current economic hardship in the country.

- One of the beneficiaries

“We are also enjoining all our muslims organisations to follow suit, must especially in this era where the economy of this country is not in the best of interest of everybody and the only way to go about it is to follow this Allah’s injunction of giving Zakaat.

“By the time we follow this injunction of Allah, we believe the muslims in this community, in this country, would in a way solve the problem of economic hardship.

“This is the message we want to pass to other sister organisations beyond what we are doing here today.”

The National coordinator thanked Abeokuta chapter for flying the flag of the Zakaat programme, recalling that all other chapters had the mandate to institutionalise Zaakat in their chapters, but that only Abeokuta has continued to keep the flag flying.

The Chapter Coordinator, represented by the chapter Missionary, Alhaji Ishaq Ajisegiri explained that Da’wah Front has remained a platform for the actualization of Islamic agenda one of which is the institution of Zakaat.

While encouraging all members to play their role for the programme to continue flourishing, the coordinator explained that Zakaat threshold is minimum of about N10m.

He commended the courage of the beneficiaries of the Zakaat, saying the essence of the programme would have been defeated without them.

The Chairman of the Zakaat committee, Surajudeen Fasola, explained that over 60 muslims including non-members of the Group have benefited from the exercise which started in 2016 with over N7m so far expended.

The Chairman who hinted that 95% of the applicants were women drawn from the aged and widows groups, encouraged men to work harder with a view to assisting the vulnerable who are majorly women within the society.

While hoping that the programme will hold annually, the coordinator thanked the Ummu Forum of the Organisation for alleviating the job of the committee.

Architect Ademoye who delivered the day’s lecture regretted that Zakaat remained the most neglected pillar of Islam despite its closeness to Solat as mentioned in the Qur’an.

He enjoined the beneficiaries of the Zakaat to see the opportunity as a trust that must be guided jealously, adding that the idea is for them to be capable of paying the Zakaat in the nearest future.

Highlight of the event was the distribution of the empowerment items which included fridges, industrial sewing machine, bags of charcoal, patent medicine materials, provisions, hijab materials, amongst other requests.