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 via the Zamzam UK website. The money collected in our special zakat fund will be spent on five types of zakat-eligible projects. Most will go to individuals in need, while up to a quarter will go to infrastructure projects that benefit the whole community. The five project areas are:

• 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 bring a good education within reach for some of Somalia’s poorest children.