How the Bissau Project Handles Zakat
As part of our commitment to fulfilling our tasks with ihsan, Bissau Project has started to hold seminars for villagers at the time of zakat distribution, to help the recipients of zakat to better understand the purpose of the this pillar of Islam.
The purpose of this article is to share a bit about how the Bissau Project distributes zakat.
Specifically, we want to look at 4 areas:
Legal validity of zakat distribution
Priority for the most needy
Distributing zakat in the form of cash
Distributing zakat with ihsan
Legal validity of zakat
The important point here is that 100% of your zakat contributions are distributed directly to zakat-eligible individuals. Every dollar of zakat that is entrusted to the Bissau Project is distributed directly to zakat-eligible individuals in West Africa. About 97 percent of the total goes to people in the rural villages of Guinea Bissau, with the remainder going to zakat-eligible individuals in the Gambia.
First of all, 100% of zakat funds are distributed directly to zakat-eligible individuals. This is really important. Every dollar that is donated to the Bissau Project as zakat actually reaches people on the ground in West Africa. About 97 percent of that goes to people in villages where we work in Guinea Bissau, with the remainder going to people who are closely connected with our work in the Gambia.
In reality, the Bissau Project doesn't pay a salary to any of our teachers. Any money that the ustadh receive is zakat. What this means is that there are actually no expectations attached to the payments. The ustadh are actually completely free to teach, or not. Because each of them is deeply committed to the Bissau Project's work on a personal level, and is committed to helping to spread Islam among their people, they do teach. They choose to teach because they believe in what we are doing. Each of our ustadh has a deep personal commitment to the Bissau Project, and which only grows stronger. Naturally, they also participate in our teacher training programs, as part of their own own commitment to knowledge, and they also meet regularly with our administrators. As part of our commitment to proper distribution of zakat, we consulted a qualified mufti at al-Azhar, and he judged that this arrangement is a legally valid way to distribute zakat. Of course, legal validity is simply a baseline.
Prioritizing the needy
In some ways it's easy to distribute zakat in these parts of West Africa, because literally everyone is eligible for zakat. However, we have a system to give preference to the most needy people in these communities. The Bissau Project ustadh teach full time in the villages, and because they know everyone, they are able to help our team prioritize distribution to orphans, widows, the sick, and others who are in hardship.
As far as how we identify people who are eligible to receive zakat, to some extent it's easy, because literally everyone in these regions of Guinea Bissau is eligible for zakat. However, we try to give zakat funds to the most needy people from these communities for zakat distribution, such as orphans, widows, the sick, and others who are in situations of prolonged hardship. We give this zakat in the form of cash, so that each individual is empowered to use the funds in whatever way is most beneficial for them and their family. All together, these humanitarian and hardship assistance zakat distributions, in the form of cash, comprised about 75% of the Bissau Project's zakat distributions in 2021-2022.
The remainder of our zakat distributions go to people who are connected with the Bissau Project's work, primarily the teachers in our village schools. The way we do this is actually quite interesting, and I believe it contributes greatly to the spirit of the Bissau Project's work. As I mentioned, everyone in these regions lives below the poverty line and is definitely eligible to receive zakat. This includes everyone who works with the Bissau Project, such as our ustadh in the villages, and even our program administrators.
But in actuality, they are teaching simply because they choose to teach, working fi sabil Allah, in the way of God. The fact that they choose to work with the Bissau Project is simply evidence of their commitment to our leadership and our mission.
So although our first and most important responsibility is to fulfill the legal requirements of zakat, we also aspire to go beyond that, and to fulfill the trust of zakat distribution with ihsan. To that end, we have some really interesting programs to help ensure that everything related to our zakat distribution in Bissau is done in the best manner.
Giving zakat in cash
The Bissau Project distributes zakat in the form of cash. I actually love this aspect of our process for many reasons. It's a very Prophetic practice, and there are many examples in Hadith of zakat distribution in cash. Giving cash empowers individuals to make choices, to use the funds in the best and most beneficial way. Furthermore, it shows we trust people to make their own decisions. It's also interesting to note that a number of secular studies have also concluded that cash distribution in these regions is the most effective forms of charity.
In Bissau, we've concluded the appropriate way to distribute zakat is in the form of cash.
Our basic process is as follows:
Though essentially everyone in these regions of Bissau is eligible for zakat, before distributing zakat we consult with our ustadh, who run the Bissau Project schools in each village. The ustadh know the communities, and they know who are the widows, the orphans, the sick, and who needs the most help in general. So out of an entire community that is technically eligible for zakat, our ustadh identify those most in need. Once they have a list of names, the ustadh ask everyone to gather at a certain time. Our administrators come to the village to meet them, and distribute zakat funds to each person in cash.
I actually really like talking about the concept of giving zakat in cash. As far as I understand it, putting cash in people's hands is very much part of the Sunnah, and part of our tradition. Many Islamic organizations give zakat in the form of food packs, and other useful items, and that is also good, but in our experience, giving cash is the most empowering form of zakat, because it empowers the recipients to make their own decisions, to do whatever is best for themselves and their families independently.
Again, to me, this is really an important paradigm shift. In western countries many people hesitate to give money to the poor, often out of fear that the recipient will make bad decisions. However, in countries like Bissau, the reality is that the vast majority make good decisions. We've seen this on the ground, that giving people the autonomy to make their own financial decisions is the most effective form of charity. I've also seen studies that came to the same conclusion.
So basically, we believe that giving cash is the most respectful, honorable, and useful form of zakat distribution. The Bissau Project zakat distribution process ensures that 100% of the cash entrusted to us as zakat actually reaches zakat-eligible individuals. reflects our commitment to fulfill our trust to both givers and recipients of zakat.
Distributing zakat with ihsan
The first year we distributed zakat in Bissau, it went well, but we noticed that people seemed to feel perhaps a little uncomfortable. We realized they didn't fully understand the concept of zakat, and its central role as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. We thought about this a lot, and decided that best approach was to educate the people about what zakat is.
The next year, we made sure that zakat distribution was actually a planned event. We held a 3-day seminar for the adults in each village, covering the fard 'ayn and other important religious topics, including zakat. People came together from miles around. The energy in these classes is incredible. People are very serious about learning, and they also really enjoy themselves. It was a wonderful event. We concluded with a feast, and then distributed the zakat funds. It seemed that people felt a lot better and more confident about receiving zakat in this way, and we plan to do this again in the future insha'Allah.
We hope these events are another step towards giving zakat in the best way, with ihsan.