JEDDAH, 5 December 2006 — The Malaysian prime minister and chairman of the current session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Abdullah Badawi, announced yesterday the establishment of the International Commission for Zakah to be headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.

Zakah is one of the five pillars of Islam, incumbent on all adult Muslims of sound mind and body with a set level of income and assets.

Badawi will be chairman of the board of trustees of the commission, which will nominate the board of directors. Saudi businessman Saleh Kamel, chairman of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is expected to be nominated as chairman of the board of directors. An announcement was previously made about the concept and plans of establishing this world fund for Zakah.

Meetings were held of ministers and officials from several Islamic countries - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Brunei, Syria, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain,and UAE - to discuss the idea and approve it.

Kamel told Arab News last month that his organization set out the fund’s rules on the basis of Shariah regulations. He said there are more than 20,000 societies and agencies that are currently involved in the collection and distribution of Zakah. He said the new fund would have offices in all Islamic countries as well as in others that have large numbers of Muslims.

Kamel said the fund would carry out its activities in a transparent manner.

“It will collect both Zakat Al-Fitr and Zakat Al-Mal (wealth) and the funds will be distributed under the supervision of a specialized committee,” he said.

The committee includes experts from the Islamic Development Bank, OIC, and the chamber.

After completing the procedures for establishing the fund, OIC member states will be invited to join as members in the commission and open branches for it in their countries.

The most important goals of the commission is to bolster solidarity, cooperation and support among member states in the economic, social, developmental and media fields as well as bolster humanitarian brotherhood and cooperation between the member states and the international community in the area of charity, humanitarian affairs, international relief, crisis prevention and reduce the suffering of disaster-stricken people.

Another objective is to reinforce the concept of Zakah as the third pillar of Islam and as a tool for economic development and social support and to spread awareness of the basics of Zakah and how it is calculated and distributed.