Zakat House, run under the purview of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, has commenced accepting Zakat for the year.
A statement from Zakat House said it began accepting Zakat, or the mandatory charity, extended by financially-able citizens effective from Monday, March 11, 2024 onward.
To ensure ease for older citizens and those not familiar with technological applications, Zakat can be extended by visiting Islamic Center hall.
For this year, the ministry has facilitated several online payment options for Zakat, which include;
- Dhiraagu App/ Dhiraagu Pay and SMS
- Ooredoo m-Faisaa and SMS
- Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB)’s Faisa app and FaisaNet
- Bank of Maldives (BML) internet and mobile banking suites
- FahiPay
- Bandeyri Pay
Zakat payments via Bandeyri Pay will be accepted through Ramadan.
The ministry has facilitated specific hours where it will be accepting Zakat if individuals visit the center to donate. As such the ministry will be accepting in-person donations of charity from;
- 09:00hrs to 13:00hrs on weekdays
- 11:00hrs to 14:00rs everyday, except on Fridays, during last 10 days of Ramadan
For this year, the nisab, or minimum threshold of Zakat is the price equivalent of 2.4 Kg rice. For normal rice, this translates to MVR 12, and for Thailand rice and basmati rice, it is MVR 70; in Greater Male’ region.
Outside of Greater Male’ region, in other atolls, nisab would be set based on the selling price of 2.4 Kg of rice in the respective islands. In atolls outside of Male’ region, Zakat will be collected from the respective council body of that island.