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When you open your prayer app, you can customize your timetable according to a variety of legitimate scholarly differences; Asr timing, Fajr timing etc.
Zakat has a similar range of legitimate scholarly differences. Can capital projects be funded? Are there any cases in which non-Muslims can be given Zakat? How do we interpret “in the path of Allah”?
Hitherto, LaunchGood has had a singular Zakat policy which resembles policies that other charities have.
What’s different about us is that LaunchGood isn’t a charity. We’re a platform.
That means that we need a Zakat policy which is relevant to a platform, not a charity. So, we have to accommodate the different preferences of users that exist across our diverse user base. The key word is pluralism.
However, Zakat is a sacred duty and we will be asked about it on the Day of Judgement. So we absolutely must be authentic.
Combining those together (pluralism + authenticity), we’re building a new way to give Zakat which captures the breadth of legitimate Islamic scholarship.
We’ll be verifying campaigns as Zakat eligible if they are valid campaigns under the Hanafi, Shafi, Maliki and Hanbali madhabs, as well as respected and authentic contemporary scholarship. This means we’ll be able to facilitate more amazing causes than ever before. We’re immensely honored to be the first to offer this unique Zakat experience.
The beauty of this all is that it’s all based on rigorous study and scholarship. In the coming blogs, we’re going to be sharing with you our panel of amazing scholars that have helped put this policy together, and all of the books of Fiqh we’ve consulted and read.
Watch this space!
LaunchGood
