Ibile Muslims Community Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation Distributes N85.5M to the Less Privileged in Lagos
… as Senator Abiru Calls for Fair Wealth Distribution
As the fight against poverty in Nigeria gains traction, Islamic organizations are stepping up their charitable efforts, channeling millions of naira to support the less privileged and uplift communities.
In line with this mission, the Ibile Muslims Community Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation has disbursed N85.5 million in charitable aid, providing much-needed relief to vulnerable residents across Lagos.
The Islamic charity organization on Saturday at the Eko FM Archade, Ikeja Lagos, gathered the who is who in Nigeria to support the less privileged and lift them out of poverty.
The event, which also was to raise funds to enable the organization to continue its support for the poor Nigerians, students, traders, and Imams, among others, benefited from the kind gesture.
Speaking during the event, a member of the board of trustees, Mr. AbdulHamid Ademola Danmole said the disbursement was the initial stage of the foundation’s commitment to distributing Zakat fees to indigent Nigerians.
He said; “At this initial stage, we disbursed 86.5 million naira to the less privileged among us, this will be a continuous effort as we have started now, and we might have another disbursement before the year rounds off, we are committed to helping the less privileged to live out of poverty and this we will continue to drive.
We have different categories of disbursement; in the education section, we gave 200 students scholarships, 25 Ph.D, and 25 masters students; we gave 25 traders and 100 imams from various mosques within Lagos. This is a support we hope to continue to drive, as we appeal to the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fund.
The chief Imam of Lagos, Sheikh Sulaimon Oluwatoyin Abu-Nollah, congratulated the recipients and urged them to channel the funds given to them properly to enable them to scale the poverty level.
Sheikh Abu-Nollah assured that the effort will be a continuous progress in helping the less privileged.
The distinguished senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District at the Senate, Senator Mukahil Tokunbo Abiru, commended the effort of the organizers as he outlined the benefits of equitable distribution of wealth as ordained by Allah.
The senator said that the essence of Zakat and Sadaqat is to ensure equal distribution of wealth where no one is oppressed or feels neglected in the society.
He said; “It is a time to reflect on one of the tenets of our religion, which is Zakat, and its payment is a compulsion upon wealthy Muslims, what we are saying is that it is stipulated upon all the wealthy in Islam, it is a way of spreading wealth in a way and manner that the society will benefit from and that is part of what the Zakat is doing technically, and of course the Sadaqat as well is also the teachings of Islam that is not only the wealthy that should give, those who have little should also give out and at the end of the day, if you look at the teachings, it is also a way of just making sure that there is equitable distribution of wealth among those who have and those don’t have can share among themselves, and I say that all of us should uphold this tenets.”
The senator urged the foundation to widen the scope of the Zakat to enable more people to benefit from it, as he said if done the proper way, it will help solve some economic challenges and it will create jobs for people.
One of the beneficiaries, Hussein A dulRahman Olatunji, who got an education support scholarship, expressed his appreciation to the organizers with a promise to judiciously make use of the grant.
“I received the sum of N200,000 for my education support; I am indeed delighted for this gesture; it will go a long way in making me concentrate on my studies as I will no longer be thinking of how to pay school fees for the session. I am grateful to the organizers for their kind gesture; may Almighty Allah bless them abundantly,” he said.
