An anonymous donor gave out N7.5m to 60 indigent persons in Ibadan on Monday in observance of Zakat, the third of the five pillars of Islam.
In Islam, Zakat is mandatory for a Muslim who has at least one million units of his or her local currency as savings in a year to give 2.5 per cent of it to the needy.
In Nigeria, where the naira is the legal tender, for instance, a Muslim who has N1m in savings in a year is expected to give out N25,000 of the money as Zakat.
The same rate goes for every million the Muslim has as savings. Beneficiaries do not necessarily have to be of the Islamic faith.
According to reports, those who benefitted from the anonymous donor on Monday got between N100,000 and N200,000 each, depending on their challenges.
The programme coordinator, Malam Ismail Saka, said beneficiaries were the infirm, indigent students, orphans, and other less-privileged members of the community.
Saka explained that the donor handed the money to him in trust for distribution to the needy and was not expecting any form of appreciation from anyone, but from God, whose instructions he obeyed.
He said the payment of Zakat was mandatory for wealthy Muslims to remove 2.5 per cent of their wealth yearly to assist the poor in order to purify their wealth.
He charged Muslims and other people in society to always have the intention of doing well.
Saka also urged the beneficiaries of the Zakat not to regard themselves as inferior to others but to be proud beneficiaries.
He charged them to make judicious use of the money so that they too could be givers of Zakat in the future.
In a brief lecture delivered at the ceremony, the president of an Islamic organisation, Tadhamunul Muslimeen, Oyo State, Alhaji Kamaldeen Bello, said Zakat was meant to assist the needy.
He said it was also designed by God to reduce poverty in society.
“Zakat payment purifies wealth, and I call on wealthy Muslims to pay their Zakat regularly in order to purify their wealth and get more rewards from God,’’ he said.
He urged the beneficiaries to fear God and to make use of the money judiciously.
In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Dr Dawood Alaga, also called on wealthy Muslims and other well-meaning persons to always assist the less privileged as a way of eradicating poverty.
He advised the wealthy to remember that their wealth was not the result of their own cleverness or diligence, but of divine provision by God.
Speaking on behalf of others, one of the beneficiaries (name withheld), prayed for the donor and pledged that recipients would use the money judiciously.
