The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) Central Council has identified diligent collection and equitable distribution of Zakah, Waqf and charity among Muslims as solution to poverty and ameliorate the sufferings of the less privileged.
Nigerians generally have been in the throes of economic challenges leading to poverty and hardship among the people, but JNI in a communiqué jointly signed by its secretary-general, Prof. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu and JNI Niger state chairman, Alhaji Dalhatu Aliyu Makama Nupe, Monday said if properly managed, Zakah, Waqf and charity will go a long way in addressing poverty and the socio-economic inequalities in Nigeria.
The communiqué was issued at the end of JNI Annual Central Council meeting held last week Monday in Minna, Niger state.
“With the reforms in the financial industry and the coming of Islamic Banking, Zakah (due alms), Waqf (endowment) and Sadaqa (charity) should be easier to collect and administered now. There is therefore the need for the JNI to convene a National Zakah, Waqf and Sadaqa Summit with Islamic bankers, Muslim organisations and Ulama’ in charting ways of leveraging on the current trends in the industry.
“The JNI must lead other Muslim organisations and ulama’ in reviving ethos of Islam among the youths as well as inculcating in them the pristine values of the religion via a sustained reorientation of priorities. We call on the federal government, state governments and all government agencies to note that same-sex marriage has been criminalised and remained so, because we have an established pattern of family life and we are a well-cultured people.
“Majority of the bandits and insurgents terrorising the Muslim community are themselves professed Muslims, JNI and the country’s Muslim leadership must not shirk their responsibility in advising the security agencies, as well as reaching out to some of the more malleable miscreants to bring an end to this sorry state of affairs, as many non-state actors are filling the vacuum of this role.
“The JNI and Muslim leadership must be decisive in ensuring the unity of the Ummah – for example, a strategy must be deployed to eliminate the ‘Yan Hakika’ phenomenon, as these miscreants have been disowned by the Sufi Tariqas they claim to be part of.”