Mumbai: As Muslims comply with the obligatory duty of paying Zakat, the 2.5% of wealth that has to be given in charity annually during Ramadan, a Sufi group has stirred a debate by asking people not to donate to groups promoting political Islam.
Peer Syed Khalid Naqiulhussaini, national president of National Sufi Sant Organisation, which believes in a less fundamentalist interpretation of the faith, asked Muslims to donate to only ‘deserving masses’ and ignore groups that propagate political Islam. Naqiulhussaini named Dawat-E_Islami which he claimed wants to collect more than Rs 100 crores to promote their ‘radical ideology’.
In the absence of verified figures, Zakat groups estimate that the annual collection in India varies between Rs 10,000 crores and Rs 40,000. With thousands of groups involved in channeling these donations, there have been concerns about the destination of the aid.
Advocate Sayed Jalaluddin, chairman, Sarhadi Gandhi Memorial Society, said he agreed with the appeal to donors to exercise discernment while donating money. ‘You are entitled to know how your money is being spent. There are lots of unscrupulous groups that use money given for noble causes for wrong purposes,” said Jalaluddin.
Altaf Patel from the Muslim Pressure Group said that in the past, groups from Kashmir came to Mumbai to collect Zakat. “They talked about problems there and collected money. This year, there was an appeal from Kashmir asking people not to donate to these groups as they are frauds,” added Patel.
According to Jalaluddin, globalisation of the Zakat collection because of the internet has advantages and disadvantages. “But it is better to donate to a familiar organisation. If you know a group helping orphans or widows, it is better to give your donations,” he added.
Patel said that donating zakat locally is the best way to ensure that charity reaches the needy. “But what we are seeing is groups coming to Mumbai from the north to collect zakat to take it to madrassas and other organisations there.”
Others are sceptical of the word ‘political Islam’. Aamir Edresy, president of the Association of Muslim Professionals, a group that offers online zakat services, said that he disagreed with the contention that charity funds are diverted to other uses. “No organisation in India aids such subversive work. Dawat-E-Islami is focussed on Islam; they are not connected to political activism. There are groups with similar names outside India, including Pakistan.”
In June 2022, after a murder in Udaipur related to an allegedly blasphemous social media post, intelligence agencies had named Pakistan’s Dawat-E-Islami as a group collecting donations in India. The group denied the allegations.
“It depends on what you define as political Islam,” said Maulana Yasoob Abbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board who traces back the beginnings of political Islam to the conflict for power in the early days of Islam when descendents of prophet Mohammad were killed by those seeking leadership of the Muslim community. “Those who usurped power by killing and bombing mosques are the promoters of political Islam. Zakat is collected from the wealthy and distributed to the poor,” said Abbas.
