Ramadhan harvest time for charitable organizations

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The season for giving, or the month of Ramadhan, gives a considerable boost to the revenue of charitable organizations.

The Jakarta Islamic Charitable Body (Bazis Jakarta), which is an official institution tasked to raise zakat, or obligatory donations for charity, says the amount of money collected during Ramadhan can reach Rp 5 billion (US$526,315), or five times the amount raised during normal months.

"This year, we set a target of raising at least Rp 16 billion. We had collected around Rp 10 billion by October and we are optimistic we can collect another Rp 6 billion in the remaining months," head of Bazis Jakarta's zakat utilization division, Abdurrahman, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Last year, he said, Bazis Jakarta collected Rp 14 billion.

Like Bazis, many other Islamic charitable groups, such as the Dompet Duafa, see an increase in revenue during the fasting month.

"Ramadhan is a special month for Muslims. We organize a number of charitable events to accommodate their good deeds," said Imazgee Togie, an assistant to the director of Asset Reform Network of Dompet Duafa.

Togie added this year his organization had set a target to collect Rp 23 billion, as last year it had collected Rp 20 billion.

According to Islamic teachings, God will give manifold reward for the good deeds Muslims do during the holy month of Ramadhan and that a Muslim who has accumulated at least the equivalent of 98 grams of gold within a year is obliged to give 2.5 percent of his cumulative wealth as zakat.

Because of such a belief, most Muslims prefer to pay zakat mal -- a percentage of their wealth for charity -- during Ramadhan.

At the end of Ramadhan, each Muslim is also obliged to pay zakat fitrah -- 2.5 kilograms of staple food or an equal amount of money mainly for the poor.

The Indonesian government does not regulate how zakat is paid. Muslims usually give their zakat through charitable organizations, mosques or directly to the needy.

Although there are guidelines for distributing the charity fund, each organization has its own way.

Abdurrahman said nearly 75 percent of the fund was distributed to students from poor families, while another 25 percent was used to renovate mosques and to fund the development of small-scale enterprises.

Meanwhile, according to Togie, Dompet Duafa uses 50 percent of the money to encourage people to develop small-scale enterprises, while another 50 percent is used to fund various charitable activities.

"We don't want to give them only money, but also certain business skills. Our objective is to change them from zakat receivers to zakat payers," he added.