PPZ spearheads pro-active zakat collection

The zakat collection body for the Federal Terriroties (FT) has been making inroads in its endeavour to allow Muslims to fulfil one of their religious obligations. The numbers speak for the this outfit.

From 1991 to 2009, the Pusat Pungutan Zakat (PPZ) MAIWP has collected a total of RM1.45 billion in zakat. This year, the zakat body entrusted with the collection of zakat, or tithe, in FT is targetting total collections of RM260 million. This works out to be a tageted increase of 26%.

What has made this possible for PPZ, which began operations in 1991 after being established by the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council, better known locally by its Malay acronym MAIWP?

"I would say it is our pro-active approach. We don't wait for the people to come to us to paya zakat, we go to them," said PPZ general manager Mohd Rais Alias.

This, perhaps, sums up best the consistent growth in both the amount of zakat collected over the past few years and also the total number of people fulfilling their zakat obligations. "We made a total change in our approach some time ago," he added.

[FULL STORY IN THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE, 16 AUG 2010, or at epaper.themalaysianreserve.com]