The zakat empowerment program is expected to help Muslims in the long term, and even make people who were previously mustahiq become muzaqqi.

Bogor, W Java (Indonesia Window) – Zakat funds collected from muzaqqi (zakat payers) and distributed to mustahiq (people who are entitled to receive zakat) through empowerment programs is expected to make Muslims more productive.

The head of a zakat collection institution named Solidaritas Insan Peduli (locally called LAZSIP), Ustadz Muhamad Irfandi, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Indonesia Window here, recently.

“So, in terms of the purpose of its distribution, zakat can be given to mustahiq for consumptive needs, for example buying daily necessities, or for empowerment programs, such as those for business capital, cultivating agricultural lands, and making drilled wells,” he explained.

The zakat empowerment program, he continued, is expected to help Muslims in the long term, and even make people who were previously mustahiq become muzaqqi.

LAZSIP, which received an operational permit from the West Java Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia in July 2024, has carried out a number of empowerment activities, including the construction of a drilled well at the Ar-Rum Al-Hamid Cileungsi Mosque, Bogor district, the utilization of agricultural and fishery land in Tanjungsari, Bogor district, and education programs for Muslim preachers in several areas in the country.

"So far, there are 100 well drilling points throughout Indonesia handled by LAZSIP, including a pipeline program," Ust. Irfandi noted.

In order to optimize efforts to expand the collection and distribution of empowerment zakat, LAZSIP has established partnerships with a number of organizations and institutions, including Islamic education foundations, the Mosque Prosperity Council (DKM), and corporations.

"The requests for assistance received by LAZSIP are very numerous. Therefore, we invite Muslims to fulfill their obligation to pay zakat at official amil institutions so that its collection and distribution are in accordance with sharia and state regulations," Ust. Irfandi pointed out. An amil is a person who receives, collects and distributes zakat.

He explained that the command to pay zakat is mentioned in the Quran 30 times along with the command to uphold the five obligatory prayers.

"Prayer is for oneself, while zakat is for others. Zakat will always be counted as a debt until it is paid according to the calculations set by the sharia law and given to the eight asnaf (zakat recipiens)," he added.

LAZSIP, which has an office in Cileungsi sub district, Bogor district, West Java province, opens a zakat consultation service for Muslims throughout Indonesia.

Reporting by Indonesia Window