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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Social security plans were first introduced in the
1960s but
have never achieved much success. Traditionally, the
family and
biradari have functioned as a welfare system that
can be
relied on in times of need based on reciprocal
obligations.
In 1980, as a part of his Islamization program, Zia
introduced a welfare system, known as the Zakat and Ushr
Ordinance. Based on the Islamic notion of zakat,
the aim
was to forge a national system to help those without kin.
The
Zakat and Ushr Ordinance combined elements of the
traditional
Islamic welfare institution with those of a modern public
welfare
system. The ordinance's moral imperative and much of its
institutional structure were directly based on the Quran
and the
sharia.
As a traditional religious institution, zakat
involves
both the payment and the distribution of an alms tax given
by
Muslims who enjoy some surplus to certain kinds of
deserving poor
Muslims
(
mustahaqeen--see Glossary).
The traditional
interpretation by the Hanafi school of religious law
stipulates
that zakat is to be paid once a year on wealth held
more
than a year. The rate varies, although it is generally 2.5
percent. Ushr is another form of almsgiving, a 5
percent
tax paid on the produce of land, not on the value of the
land
itself. Both zakat and ushr are paid to
groups as
specified in the Quran, such as the poor, the needy,
recent
converts to Islam, people who do the good works of God,
and those
who collect and disburse zakat.
The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance set broad parameters for
eligibility for zakat, which is determined by local
zakat committees. Priority is given to widows,
orphans,
the disabled, and students of traditional religious
schools.
Eligibility is broad and flexible and presumes great trust
in the
integrity, fairness, and good sense of the local
zakat
committees. Although the program initially focused on
providing
cash payments, it gradually has moved into establishing
training
centers, especially sewing centers for women. By 1983 the
zakat program had disbursed more than Rs2.5 billion
to
some 4 million people. The program, however, has come
under a
great deal of criticism for the uneven manner in which
funds are
disbursed.
Shia have vociferously criticized the program on the
basis
that its innate structure is built around Sunni
jurisprudence.
Shia leaders successfully have championed the right to
collect
zakat payments from members of their community and
to
distribute them only among Shia mustahaqeen.
Data as of April 1994
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