In a major drive to alleviate poverty and support the vulnerable, the Rightly Guided Foundation has distributed thirty-nine million Naira in Zakat to the less privileged in Ibadan.
The initiative was aimed at empowering beneficiaries to become self-reliant and future partakers in the economic development of their communities.
The ancient city of Ibadan witnessed a significant humanitarian intervention as the Rightly Guided Foundation carried out its Zakat distribution exercise.
A total of Thirty-Nine Million Naira was disbursed to one hundred and forty less privileged ones in the society.
According to the foundation, the approach aligns with the core Islamic principle of Zakat, which seeks to move individuals from being receivers of charity to becoming givers in the future.
The beneficiaries were given amounts ranging from ₦150,000 to ₦3 Million depending on their needs and in line with an earlier interactions during the selection process.
During the ceremony, the Amir of the foundation, Mallam Ibrahim Bello and the Secretary, Professor Moruf Oke, emphasized the importance of wealthy Muslims fulfilling their Zakat obligations as a divine tool for wealth redistribution,social inclusion and societal stability.
Mallam Bello and Professor Oke explained that the foundation, in collaboration with The Merciful Foundation in Houston Texas, USA, has been paying for WAEC and JAMB registration forms annually for some Muslim students, distributing food stuffs and cash to less privileged and feeding prison inmates.
The two officials of the foundation explained that the foundation started Zakat distribution in 2025 with N10million while N39 million was distributed in 2026, stressing “the foundation’s donations keep increasing on yearly basis”
Mallam Bello and Prof. Oke also added that the foundation makes trust as its cornerstone and would continue to share the Zakat donations given to them to Muslims in need with the fear of Allah to minimise poverty in the society.
In a lecture titled “to herald the Zakat distribution, an Islamic Scholar, Mallam Rasheed Musa, described Zakat as the oxygen that ventulates a Muslim’s worship.
He urged Muslim faithful to always know Allah and depend solely on Him and His injuction to enjoy a peaceful life on earth, and comfortable abode in the hereafter.
Mallam Musa however encouraged all present to always be fervent in prayers, saying it is the only weapon for winning life battles.
In his Goodwill message, the Chairman of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association (MULAN), in Oyo State, Barr. Ismaila Saka, noted that poverty would be reduced to the barest minimum if many wealthy Muslims have made payment of Zakat a priority.
Barr. Saka, counselled the beneficiaries on judiciously use of the funds to establish or strengthen the proposed or existing businesses.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Malam AbdulGaniy Abubakar, appreciated the foundation for the gesture and pledged judicious use of the fund.
He emphasised that the intervention came at a critical time given the current economic downturn in the country.
According to the Holy Quran and other Islamic literature, Zakat, which is the third among the five pillars of Islam, made it mandatory for wealthy people above certain established threshold to pay 2.5 percent of such wealth as charity to the needy annually.
