LZS LAUNCHES ZAKAT AULAD CLUB TO HIGHLIGHT SIGNIFICANCE OF ZAKAT AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

SHAH ALAM, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- The Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) today launched the Zakat Aulad Club (ZAC) to raise awareness and highlight the importance of tithe (zakat) among the younger generation.

Its chief executive officer, Mohd Sabirin Mohd Sarbini, said the programme, in collaboration with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS), is a continuation of the Selangor Zakat Education Module, which was rolled out across all JAIS-affiliated religious schools in August 2022.

He said ZAC would be introduced in 11 Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi (SRAI) in Selangor before being expanded to all schools under JAIS starting next year.

“At the outset of the planning, we outlined one of the proposed activities as setting up a zakat club, serving as a platform for children to understand, embrace, and incorporate the practice of zakat into their lives.

“It is on this basis that LZS and JAIS are committed to establishing ZAC, which will further strengthen zakat education in JAIS-affiliated schools through a more relaxed and engaging approach,” he told reporters at the launch.

JAIS deputy director-general (operations) Salwana Ahmad Dahlan, LZS chief operating officer Ahmad Fadhil Hassan, and over 100 students and teachers from SRAI across Selangor attended the launching ceremony.

Mohd Sabirin said that ZAC serves as an educational platform to delve into the fundamental aspects of zakat, including its requirements, conditions, and role in supporting the asnaf (tithe recipients) while also fostering an understanding among the younger generation of Islamic social values and the zakat distribution process in building a balanced society.

He added that the initiative to promote zakat through education is part of LZS’s long-term strategy to create a generation of zakat-literate individuals by raising early awareness among students who will become zakat contributors in the future.

“I believe that da’wah efforts must always be innovative and proactive, and the idea behind ZAC is to make zakat da’wah efforts in Selangor more impactful in the long term.

This will also have a favourable implication on increasing zakat collection, which is crucial in meeting the growing needs of the asnaf every year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Sabirin said that the number of new asnaf is expected to increase to 14,000 this year, up from 12,000 the previous year, based on LZS efforts to trace and locate them.

He said the effort to identify and locate new asnaf is also supported by the over 2,000 zakat collectors appointed by the board throughout Selangor.

“This increase will certainly add to the more than 70,000 asnaf, including the poor, needy, and new converts, who LZS is currently assisting,” he added.

-- BERNAMA