A major portion of Zakat this year is going towards helping those affected by the lockdown and this leaves a little or nothing to help the traditional beneficiary groups like madrasas, orphanages, old-age homes, destitutes, widows, unemployed and coaching centres Civil Services examinations and schemes like housing for the poor. More over, hundreds of Hafiz...

Zakat provides for cash transfers which are important in supporting the vulnerable in the short term and can contribute to COVID-19 emergency response. Pictured: Soap and hand sanitizer are distributed as part of UNDP’s emergency support of vulnerable families in Bangladesh. Photo: UNDP Bangladesh/Fahad Kaizer As the global development community responds to the COVID-19 pandemic,...

A Muslim devotee makes announcements urging members of the community to stay indoors and offer prayers from their homes, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, amid unprecedented circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide lockdown, in Bhopal (file photo) While the religious leaders in Pakistan have forced the government into keeping the...