Hadejia Emirate warns Muslims against non-payment of Zakat

The Hadejia Emirate Council Zakat Committee in Jigawa has warned residents of Kirikasamma District against refusal to pay Zakat as at when due.

The Committee’s Acting Chairman, Sheikh Yusuf Abdulrahman, disclosed this in Saleri while distributing 52 bags of sorghum and millet to the needy.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zakat is a form of charity or almsgiving which is considered as a religious obligation in Islam among those who were financially buoyant.

Abdulrahman expressed concern that in 2020, only N2.3 million worth of grains were distributed to the needy in the entire district as against over N3 million grains realised in 2019.

Abdulrahman, who is the Chief Imam of Hadejia Central Mosque, noted that the figures indicated a drop in payment of Zakat in the district.

“Payment of Zakat is compulsory in Islam; it is not optional.

“I urge district and village heads to step up sensitisation on their wealthy subjects about it, otherwise the committee will be forced to use drastic measures against defaulters,” he said.

A member of the committee, Dr. Umar Nassarawa, in his remark said giving out Zakat to the needy would purify wealth and attract blessings from Allah.

“Zakat gives protection from flooding and fire outbreak.

“Any community that is bedeviled with any form of natural disaster must find out if its wealthy people pay Zakat regularly,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Malam Ya’u Mohammad, thanked the committee for the donation and prayed for God to further enrich the benefactors. Zakat, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, can also be paid in cash and on a certain number of livestock.

Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Zakkat and Endowment Commission also received four animals from Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto) farm in the state metropolis.

While collecting the livestock in Sokoto, the Commission’s Chairman, Malam Muhammad Maidoki said the gesture has become the fifth time when the commission collected Zakkat from the farm.

“However, Wamakko has insisted that whenever the time of Zakkat for the farm approaches, that there is no need to seek his permission but the commission should go ahead in accordance with Allah’s directives.

“As such, we appeal to other wealthy persons to fear Allah and ensure they give out Zakkat as enshrined in accordance with Islamic beliefs.

“More so, giving out Zakkat as directed in Islam is an obligatory responsibility of any wealthy Muslim, as it purifies wealth and secure disaster as well as fight poverty and hunger in the society,” he said.

Maidoki further said that three cows and a goat would be collected from the farm as prescribed by the scholars in the collection of Zakkat.

He commended Wamakko, a former governor of the state, for his foresight toward ensuring the purity of his wealth by paying Zakkat as at when due.