Channelling zakah funds into long-term investments

The author, from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, puts forth a suggestion regarding the transfer of zaka funds into long-term investments. His scheme centers around the issuance of shares of an institution he is proposing called the Awqaf-Zakah Investment Fund (AZIF). Instead of getting cash from the zaka administration, recipients would be given shares of AZIF redeemable at stores for goods while zakah funds are invested. The author turns his attention to the question of the shari`a permissibility of investing zaka money. Based partially on a Hadith in which trustees of orphan wealth are encouraged to invest it, he concludes that founding AZIF is allowed. The author addresses the issues of share distribution and of AZIF's make-up and behavior. Only essential projects, he feels, should be worked on. He stresses the importance of well-shaped methods of accounting and sophisticated control of the proposed investment fund. The article is the first in a series of