The Shoura Council on Monday recommended the formation of a special committee to study the articles of the Zakat draft regulation introduced by the council’s financial affairs committee. Zakat is money Muslims are obliged to pay to support the needy. It is one of the five pillars of Islam.
The council turned down the committee’s request to refer the draft regulation back to it for further study after members expressed reservations about it.
The regulation that aims to achieve justice and quality in terms of collecting Zakat was introduced for discussion at the Shoura Council after it had been studied for the last six years by the Department of Zakat and Income Tax (DZIT), the Council of Ministers’ Board of Experts and the Shoura Council’s financial affairs committee.
Some members said the draft law did not include several types of money and property which should be taken into account while calculating Zakat, like money in bank accounts, livestock and money used in agricultural businesses. It is unclear in terms of the type of land subject to Zakat, they said. The draft regulation also did not separate its tasks from those of DZIT.
However, the committee’s head said there was no objection or criticism. “The members preferred not to approve the draft law without being completely sure about it in terms of Shariah (Islamic law). It could be implemented immediately and stay for many years,” said Sa’ad Mariq, chairman of the financial affairs committee.
A member said that for the regulation to be complete, it must be scrutinized in terms of Shariah. Some members said the draft regulation does not seem to have been studied thoroughly by Shariah specialists. For instance, the level of assurance about the regulation’s Shariah-compliance in the section stipulating on imposing Zakat on land used for investment (used for any commerce-related activity) is not satisfactory.
One of the members said to achieve legal status, the regulation should include the real estate sector because it is one of the most important elements in the national product.
One of the members wondered how real estate Zakat would be collected from people who do not practice their business through easy-to-monitor companies and establishments.
Zakat draft referred to special cell
