Faces of hunger in a land of conflict and drought
Muslims often give particularly generously to charity during Ramadan – the month when charitable deeds are most richly rewarded and blessed.
This Ramadan, if you have a heart for Somalis struggling to survive in the face of poverty and drought, you can donate to Zamzam Foundation UK to provide lifesaving food and water for those in need.
If you are due to pay zakat during Ramadan, please consider giving your zakat to Zamzam UK too, so that together we can make a lasting difference in the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.
Our Ramadan fundraising appeal and zakat policy are both endorsed by the leading British-Somali scholar, Sheikh Othman Usuuli – see the video on this page for an Islamic reminder from Sheikh Usuuli about the importance of zakat.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam alongside faith (shahada), salah (prayer), sawm (fasting) and hajj (pilgrimage). Zakat giving has become a powerful means of redistributing wealth across communities and across continents.
Muslims are expected to pay zakat to redistribute wealth to those less fortunate if they have reached the age of puberty, are of sound mind, and have been above the qualifying wealth threshold for at least one full lunar year.
You can pay your zakat right here on the Zamzam UK website – check out our zakat calculator below to work out what you owe.
The money collected in our special zakat fund will be spent on five types of zakat-eligible projects. Most will go to individual Somalis in need, while up to a quarter will go to infrastructure projects that benefit the whole community.
The five project areas we will support with your zakat donations are as follows:
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- Emergency relief in the form of food, water, shelter and hygiene kits for individual displaced people driven from their homes by conflict, drought and floods.
- Funding and training to help individual farmers, women entrepreneurs and young people establish sustainable livelihoods.
- Building and equipping schools to deliver a good education for Somali children who would not be able to afford it otherwise.
- Building and equipping health clinics to treat malnourished children, provide specialist maternity services, and protect vulnerable people from deadly diseases.
- Drilling boreholes and digging wells to provide a lasting supply of water that is safe to drink for poor families and their animals.
Zakat calculator
Support displaced people and build schools, clinics, boreholes and livelihoods
The positive difference your zakat can make
CLEAN WATER
£260 provides 10 families with clean water for life*
Through drilling of a community borehole providing a plentiful supply of water from deep below ground for people and their animals
Your zakat, our amanah
Why should you entrust your zakat to Zamzam UK?
- Islamic alignment Through our connection with Zamzam Foundation in Somalia, we can distribute zakat to four of the eight categories of people eligible to receive it according to the Qur’an. These are the poor, the needy, travellers (refugees and displaced people), and zakat distribution “in the cause of God” (Zamzam funds transformative education, water and health projects for entire poor communities).
- Reach Zamzam Foundation has offices and projects in all regions – from Somaliland and Puntland in the north to Lower Juba in the south and all areas in between. Each year Zamzam supports more than 2.2 million Somalis.
- Authority We have adopted the zakat policy developed by Islamic Relief and created our own adapted version. The original was a policy developed over several years by Islamic Relief’s independent Zakat Advisory Board – a team of three esteemed Islamic scholars – to ensure that it is in keeping with Islamic teachings and guidance.
- Transparency Zakat is a means of expressing our gratitude for Allah’s blessings. For Muslims, wealth is not an entitlement that belongs to us. Wealth is an amanah, something that belongs to Allah (SWT) but is entrusted to us by him. We are all accountable for how it is used and ensuring it is used responsibly and effectively. That sense of accountability is why we publish our zakat policy in full on the Zamzam UK website.
- Trust Zamzam Foundation was established and is run by Somalis for Somalis. It employs local people to find local solutions to local problems. It is non-political and non-partisan, and it is not clan-aligned. All of these things mean we are trusted by local communities to work alongside them.
- Convenience Our zakat calculator (see above) provides a simple means for you to measure your wealth and assess what you are required to pay under Islamic rules and guidance. You can then pay your zakat instantly via our website.
Your zakat questions answered
Are you required to pay zakat?
Who is eligible to receive it?
How can you be sure that Zamzam UK will honour its responsibility to collect and distribute zakat responsibly?
Check out the answers to these questions and more on the zakat page of our frequently asked questions section.
