Mumbai, 24 Apr 2020 : Amid the Covid – 19 crisis, Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP), Mumbai based NGO, launched IndiaZakat.com, a unique Crowdfunding Platform to connect Zakat givers with Zakat collectors across India.
With most Muslims giving Zakat in Ramzan, and with the lockdown due to the current Covid-19 crisis, IndiaZakat is a perfect platform that ensures that Zakat would reach the deserving as per the requirements of the Zakat giver, while maintaining the norms of social distancing. IndiaZakat has drawn inspiration from similar centralized Zakat collection and disbursement platforms as well as crowdfunding platforms across the world.
IndiaZakat is a transparent platform that will connect the Zakat givers all over India to the various NGOs, – educational institutions and other bodies that collect and utilize Zakat in a strategic manner towards overall upliftment of the lower strata of society. The intent behind the platform is to reach about 10 million Indians and help them through education, skill development, employment and entrepreneurship; thereby enabling them to rise to a level where they stand on their own feet and start positively contributing to society, thereby helping build a better India!
Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam. Every Muslim who has wealth above a particular level for a year is expected to compulsorily donate 2.5% of his wealth to the poorer sections of society. Most of the people pay zakat during the month of Ramzan, but they do so on an individual basis. Such unorganized disbursement has not resulted in any sustainable solution to economic backwardness of Muslim community. The community lags behind in all socio-economic parameters in India despite having the best poverty alleviation tool.
According to a survey done by AMP in 2019 among nearly 4,600 individuals across nearly 200 cities in India, it was found that more than 60% of the people donate to same set of individuals every year. There is no specific focus on the donation. Interestingly, a vast majority of respondents also believes that there should be collective donation, and that collective zakat has the potential to transform lives.