Minding your zakat
Zaka (or
Articles
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.
Baitul mal: a duplication of zakat
In February of 1992, Pakistan's prime minister Mohammed Nawaz Sharif announced that a bayt al-mal would be created with initial assets at 2 billion rupees.
Bait-ul-Mal: a step toward Islamic welfare state
The establishment of bayt al-mal (treasury of an Islamic state) by Nawaz Sharif is a big step towards the creation of an Islamic welfare state.
Zakat as an instrument of fiscal policy
The author attempts in the article to discuss the place of the institution of zaka as the key component of a fiscal system in a developing Islamic economy. The author refers to the 'superstructure' of an economic system as the overall values, ideas, and attitudes of the society. In an Islamic society, the superstructure is one grounded in the idea of Tawheed (God's one-ness) and God's role as the sustainer of all creation. Islamic societies strive for a broad concept of well-being called falah. Falah pertains to well-being in the physical sense an in a non-material sense as well.
Distributive aspects of zakat
The institution of zaka is at the core of Islam.
The role of Az Zakat (an institutionalized charity), in the Islamic system of economics, in curing the poverty dilemma
Poverty may be understood as a general lack of contentment or 'lack of peace of mind.' It is not necessarily an absolute condition, but a relative one--the level of income at which one is poor can vary from society to society.
Principles of taxation and fiscal structure in an Islamic state (continued from August issue)
A problem faced by economies worldwide is that of inflation. It did not exist in the early times of the Islamic State. Nevertheless, the well being of people has always been the concern of the Islamic State. Some suggestions that are put forward by Islamic law are the withdrawal of surplus and discouraging excess expenditure. The Islamic State could tax wasteful expenditure in order to curb it.
Islamic banking practices: possible acceptance in the U.S.A. as perceived by Islamic and U.S./Western bankers
A survey conducted on the viability of Islamic banking in the U.S. collated the opinions of Muslim bankers, U.S. bankers familiar with Islamic banking, and U.S. bankers unfamiliar with Islamic banking.