Page 1 of 17

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 07

August 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 242

In Search of an Effective Zakat Institution Management in

Kano State Nigeria

Sheriff Muhammad Ibrahim; Amir Shaharuddin

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Malaysia

Abstract

Kano state government established its zakat

institution in 2003 called Kano State Zakah and

Hubusi Commission. The institution, however,

could not meet its desired goals of improving

the socioeconomic wellbeing of Kano citizens.

Poverty still remains a most visible feature in

the state. Hence, the article examines the

current practice of zakat management applied

by Kano State Zakah and Hubusi Commission

to identify challenges faced by the institution.

Several challenges related to establishment of

sound zakat institution, fairness of Allah and

sincerity, awareness creation, localization of

zakat (involvement of traditional institutions),

institutional mediation, incorporation of Islamic

scholars and publicity. Then, through

comparison of best practices of zakat

institutions management in other Muslim

countries, interview and discussion with local

experts, the article suggests solutions to

improve the situation. the findings of this study

help in suggesting the establishment of shariah

committee zakat, systematic method of zakat

management council, zakat payer identification

process, zakat information management,

documentation, receiver identification and

authentication, remuneration of non- government zakat workers. This will help

improve zakat institution and management in

Kano state in particular and other parts of the

world in general.

Keywords: Zakat, Management, Institution,

Islamic Finance, Islamic Economics, Kano,

Nigeria.

1.0- Introduction

Zakat is in fact alms imposed by Allah (God) on

Muslims upon acquiring a specific amount of

wealth called nisab. It is thus, given to a certain

group of people called asnaf, as clarified in the

Quran (Muhammad, Amin and Oladokun

2013). Muslims believes that zakat is an

obligation in Islam that plays an eminent role in

shaping and enhancing the lifestyle of people

regardless of their economic strength (Nur

Hafizah and Sharifah 2012). According to

Hairunnizam and Radiah (2010), in a society,

zakat acts as a distinctive measure taken by

Islam in order to abolish poverty by enjoining

zakat on the rich.

Zakat management is one of the

mechanisms established by the Kano State

Government in 2003 under its program, Kano

State Economic Empowerment and

Development Strategy (K-SEEDS). This

program aims to reduce the prevalence of

poverty in the state. Thus, the state government

established its first and only zakat institution

named “Zakat and Hubusi Commission” (Kano

Gazette 2003). The establishment of zakat

Commission replaced the former zakat

Page 2 of 17

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 07

August 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 243

organization that used to serve the state as a

non-governmental body. The Zakat and Hubusi

Commission now serves as the official body

charged with zakat collection, management and

distribution which was once a voluntary work

of a zakat institution (Ostien 2008).

Astonishingly, despite these efforts, poverty is

clearly a witnessing fact in Kano (Sheriff and

Amir 2013).

This paper reveals that systematic zakat

management has the potential to improve the

standard of living in a society, as other studies

also reveals the current issues associated with

zakat systems in Kano for instance: limited

awareness about zakat, its principles,

obligations and concepts among the Muslims

(Wambai 1991). Disorganized application of

zakat management causes difficulties in

understanding and establishing relationships

between the zakat payers and the zakat

managers (Muhammad 2010). Kurawa (2008)

also discovered that inefficient collection and

distribution of zakat is one of the focal reasons

that contribute in prevalence of poverty among

the people of Kano.

This situation has attracted the attention of

many researchers and has raised many

questions regarding the programs and the

methods adopted in these implementations.

Muhammad (2006) discovers that Kano State

Zakat and Hubusi Commission needs to

improve its services by ensuring effective

management as this will heal the ties between

the zakat givers and the zakat managers.

And therefore this paper aims at examining

the current practice of management of zakat

applied by Kano State zakah and Hubusi

Commission to identify the challenges faced by

the institution and recommends the best ways to

handle them.

There is scarce information on the history

of zakat management in Kano. The first zakat

organization was the zakat council established

in 1982 as a community based organization

aiming at reducing poverty in the state, through

the zakat collections. The committee of this

zakat organization consisted of Muslim leaders,

imams and educated people of the state. Even

tough, the council made a significant impact on

the collection and distribution of zakat, it was

yet sluggish and was not empowered by the

government. Rather, the scholars and imams at

the mosques have made awareness and

enlightenment regarding the zakat obligation.

Zakat is being paid voluntarily by the people to

the council, and the money was initially kept in

the bank and later distributed to the zakat

recipients (Ositien 2007).

The introduction of shariah governance

system in the year 2002, helped the committee

to improve on the methods adopted for the

collection of zakat, and paved a way for the

government to look into Islamic activities. It

also intended to establish an official body

managed by the government and charged with

the responsibility of collecting and distributing

zakat (Ositien 2007).

In the year 2003, the Kano state house of

assembly passed a bill on the Zakat and Hubusi

Commission that came into law as follows:

“This law may be cited as the

Kano state Zakat and Hubusi

Commission law 2003 and shall come

Page 3 of 17

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 07

August 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 244

into force on the 7th November 2003".

This law charged the Zakat and Hubusi

Commission with the responsibility of

collecting and distributing zakat. It regulated all

affairs related to Zakat and Hubusi

Commission, investing its funds after receiving

approval from the state chief executive, acting

as a trustee of all wealth under the Commission.

The law also gave the state Governor a right to

appoint the chairman, and other key

functionaries of the board. It also extends the

services of the board to cover other local Zakat

and Hubusi council and village committees, by

establishing committees, whose appointments

and managements is directly overseen by the

Commission (Ositien 2007).

2.0- Literature Review

This section reviews theoretical literatures

regarding zakat management. The section

begins with discussing the classical system of

zakat management from the time of the Prophet

S.A.W. and his companions until the

contemporary systems of zakat management

applied by many Muslim communities. This

section also discusses the challenges faced by

the contemporary zakat management systems

and the impacts of the current systems in the

Muslim societies.

2.1- Management and Administration of Zakat:

The Early Period

The Prophet himself carried out zakat

collection and distribution, and sometimes he

assigns some of His companions to carry out

the duty of collection and distribution of zakat.

This shows that the system of Zakat collection

and distribution is dynamic. Thereafter, Uthman

bn Affan (R.A) attempted to lighten the burdens

of zakat collection and distribution by asking

the Zakat payers to give the dues to the eligible

recipients of Zakat. Similarly, the Ummayad

dynasty (40-60H) also adopted the early system

of zakat collection by appointing a staff charged

with the responsibility of collection and

distribution of zakat. This system was restricted

to livestock and agriculture in the Ummayyad

dynasty (Ibn Kathir 1997). Patmawati (2006)

reported that no data could be traced on the

amount collected and distributed in the classical

Islamic era. However, there were reports that

gave the degree of success recorded by zakat

systems during the time of Umar Ibn al-Khattab

(13-22H), and Umar Ibn Abdul Azeez (99-

101H). This was detected through the

elimination of poverty in the early Muslim

communities (Sadeq 2004).

The history of zakat administration began

with the legislation of the institution of zakat.

The prophet (SAW) had assigned the duty of

collecting and distributing of Zakat to some of

his companions. He sent them to various locales

after giving them the instructions on how to

carry out the task. For instance, when the

prophet (SAW) sent Mu'adh bn Jabal to another

community, he instructed him as follows;

"You will go to people of the Scripture (i.e.,

the Jews and the Christians). First of all invite

them to testify that here is no true god except

Allah and that Muhammad (PBUH) is His slave

and Messenger; and if they accept this, then tell