KARACHI, October 11, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Scholars of different Islamic Fiqh schools, inside and outside Pakistan, have agreed that directing Zakah money to helping survivors of the killer earthquake that hit the Indian subcontinent is permissible, highlighting the merciful side of the Islamic faith.

"The heads of expenditure which are mentioned in the Holy Quran for Zakah clearly show that the money can be spent on the victims or the needy persons of this earthquake," Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, member of the Council of Islamic Ideology and vice chancellor at the Karachi-based Usman Institute of Technology told IOL.

Maulana Iftikhar Bhatti, president of Sunni Tehreek, agreed, saying the quake victims deserve all sympathy and it is the duty of the Muslims in Pakistan and across the world not only to help them wholeheartedly through Zakah but also through donations of all kinds and this would be in accordance to the teachings of the Noble Qur'an and Sunnah (Prophetic Sayings and Traditions).

"Mufti Muneebur Rehman, chairman, Ruat-e-Hilal (Moon sighting) Committee of Pakistan and head of Darul Uloom Naimi has issued a Fatwa to give Zakah to the victims of the earthquake and all of us are bound to help our Muslim brethren who have been hit by the disaster," he Bhatti added.

Maulana Hasan Turabi, a leader of the Pakistani Shiite minority sect highlighted the same argument.

"Zakah is meant for masakeen (needy) and if you go through Tozehea Al-Masael (distributing Zakah money) authored by Ayatullah Imam Khomeni, Ayatullah Khamenai, Ayatullah Sestani and Ayatullah Khoe you will know that the earthquake victims deserve Zakah not only from the Muslims of Pakistan but the entire Muslim world."

The 7.6 magnitude quake that hit the subcontinent Saturday, October 8, has killed tens of thousands in Pakistan alone. The devastating quake centered its fury in northern Pakistan and Pakistani-held Kashmir, a mountainous region where untold numbers of children were entombed when schools and houses collapsed under the worst quake to hit Pakistan in decades.

Prominent Egyptian scholar and da`i sheikh `Abdul-Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef told IOL Fatwa Zone that earthquakes are surely among the natural disasters that affect great numbers of people.

"It is surely permissible for rich Muslims to pay a part of their zakah to help alleviate the pains and the sufferings of those afflicted by the earthquakes."

Late Saudi scholar Sheikh ibn Baz also stated it was permissible to direct zakah money to help victims of natural disasters, according to IOL Fatwa Zone.

During the holy fasting month of Ramadan, Pakistanis, like most other Muslims, pay Zakah for the needy but apparently Pakistani people have little faith in government institutions, so they pay Zakah to other private charities, says IOL correspondent.

According to Dr. Shahid Hasan Siddiqui, chairman of Karachi-based Research Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, the amount of Zakah money collected by Pakistani banks does not exceed 2-3 billion rupees annually. The picture could be clearer in comparison with the 70-75 billion rupees annually diverted to charitable organizations like Edhi Foundation, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and other such institutions.

"The government hardly collects Zakah worth 2-3 billion rupees every year but people by and large don't trust it. More so because there have been instances when ministers and top officials have performed Umra through misusing Zakah funds.

"But the very fact that Zakah worth 70-75 billion rupees is collected by charitable institutions every year, who use it for treating the poor patients amply demonstrate that the people are not shy of helping their Muslim brethren," he told IOL.

"It's high time that the Zakah funds are diverted for the rehabilitation of earthquake victims. In fact, people should not only offer Zakah to the survivors of the deadly earthquake but also cut their expenses and generously donate money to them. This is very much in accordance with the teachings of Holy Qur'an and Sunnah," he said.

Paying Zakah money to help quake victims is also urged by political leaders.

"I am not a religious scholar but I can say in the light of Holy Qur'an that barring Syeds Zakah can be given to the needy and who else is more deserving than the earthquake survivors who have been trapped in debris, have lost everything and are fighting the battle of life and death?" professor Ghafoor Ahmed, deputy-head of Jaamat-i-Islami Pakistan, the most organized religious-political party in Pakistan told IOL.