Assessing the Role of Zakat in Poverty Alleviation in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital by Rabiu Abubakar Abba (Phd)

Abstract

Over the years, there has been great concern over the deplorable rate of poverty in the Muslim countries, with around 40 per cent of their population languishing in abject poverty, and nearly 350 million living on less than US$1.25 a day. Since concern for the poor and the destitute is the characteristics of Islam, charity particularly Zakat was made obligatory and binding upon all the followers of Islamic religion. Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, aimed at solving the problem of the distribution of wealth among the Muslims as well as a divine injunction, which commands the wealthy among Muslims to annually give out part of their wealth to the poor Muslims. The main objective of this research is therefore, to explore the role of Zakat in alleviating poverty in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital. To achieve this objective, qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with Zakat payers, Zakat administrators, Islamic religious scholars as well as Zakat recipients. Data was then analyzed using the thematic method of qualitative analysis. The outcome of the fieldwork from the research revealed that the practice of Zakat in Abuja has not contributed to the success in poverty alleviation in Abuja. The research further identified the lack of significant linkage between Zakat payer, Zakat collection and distribution system, Zakat institutions and Islamic religious commitment with the success in poverty alleviation in Abuja, Nigeria. This has been attributed to the absence of government support to the existing voluntary Zakat institutions and legal and regulatory issues, which has led to the noncompliance behavior of the Zakat payer, individualistic payment of Zakat, absence of trust and awareness on the part of Zakat payer, and unsystematic Zakat collection and distribution. The study therefore, recommended the institutionalization of Zakat or providing an enabling environment through appropriate support and legislation of the voluntary Zakat agencies to enable them build trust and confidence of the public, creation of awareness among Zakat payers, Zakat beneficiaries and Zakat administrators. Finally, the study recommended that the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) should set up Zakat committee for the training and retraining of Zakat personnel as well as updating the public on Zakat issues. The study has further highlighted a number of areas that requires more in-depth research in order to grasp the prospects and challenges of Zakat as a poverty alleviation strategy in Abuja, Nigeria. Future studies should focus on empirically investigating the phenomenon to discover more alternatives for better Zakat management in both Abuja and other parts of Nigeria at large, particularly by experts in Islamic religion/economics, and those who are directly linked to the collection and distribution of Zakat in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria.