Zakat matters.

THE collection and distribution of zakat by the state has once more come under discussion, this time due to the Supreme Court taking up a suo motu case concerning the government's handling of this religious obligation. The mandatory deduction of zakat at source from bank accounts is a holdover from the Ziaul Haq era, when the military dictator introduced various laws to 'Islamicise' the state. During a hearing last month, the apex court questioned transparency in the distribution of zakat funds, with the chief justice commenting that there was no clear information about how zakat funds were deducted and provided to deserving persons. At a follow-up hearing this week, religious scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani - who had been asked by the court to give his observations - said that if a fresh zakat collection and distribution system could not be put in place, perhaps it was time the state let go of the management of this religious tax.

Even when the mandatory deduction of zakat was introduced by Gen Zia, it was not without controversy. For example, in 1980 Shia protesters marched on Islamabad to protest the forced deduction of zakat. The primary reason for this was that the methodology used to calculate zakat differs in the Jafari fiqh as compared to Hanafi law. Zia had to relent. Later, members of all other sects could also opt out. In fact, just before the first of Ramazan, people belonging to these sects file affidavits or empty out their bank accounts to prevent the deduction of...