Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri presents a new model for Zakat distribution at International Conference

President Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) and Deputy Chairman of Board of Governors of Minhaj University Lahore, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri has said that at least 10.5 million employment opportunities can be created within the next five years through the meaningful use of Zakat funds. “By changing the non-transparent Zakat distribution system and giving away the funds as loan in the form of merchandise through Smeda (Small and Medium Enterprise Authority) to the needy people may work wonders and offer employment to over 10.5 million jobless people within a span of five years,” Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri told an international economic conference held online here on Thursday.

Economic and banking experts from the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman attended the moot organized by the Accounting & Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Bahrain; Minhaj University Lahore; Islamic Research & Training Institute, Jeddah; and College of Banking and Financial Studies, Oman. Mufti Taqi Usmani, chairman of AAOIFI Shariah Board, and Shaikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chairman of AAOIFI Board of Trustees presented keynote addresses on the occasion as the conference discussed and suggested solutions to the economic crisis caused in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic across the globe.

Speaking on the topic of 'Zakat and Microfinance: A Novel Way towards Alleviation of Poverty in Pakistan', Dr Qadri, who is also deputy chairman of Minhaj University’s Board of Governors, said that zakat money can be used for the provision of interest-free loans to the zakat recipients with the focus on unemployed people.

“They will come out of the poverty cycle and become zakat givers rather than recipients,” Dr Hussain said, emphasizing that the government should take robust steps to regain the trust of the public so the zakat collectibles could be increased to their potential numbers.

At three different session of the conference, the participants called for restructuring Islamic financial modes to cope with the challenges faced the industry due to COVID-19. They suggested that Islamic finance industry should adopt the risk sharing model rather debt based model. They also noted that zakat has great potential to alleviate poverty and its power can be harnessed by linking it with Islamic microfinance, while 'waqf' is another Islamic social finance tool that has proven to be an effective way of serving the community. The speakers were of the opinion that blockchain, and artificial intelligence are future technologies.

They said that the fintech solutions provide enormous opportunities for Islamic finance industry to take the competitive advantage. Crowdfunding has also proven very fruitful model and through this model more people can come into the ambit of financial stream. They asserted that the financial inclusion can be promoted through fintech solutions.