KOTA KINABALU, March 31 (Bernama) -- The zakat fitrah (personal tithe) rate in Sabah this year remains at RM7 per person, said Sabah Mufti Datuk Bungsu Aziz Jaafar.

He said the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (MUIS) has appointed a total of 2,000 amil (zakat collectors) and 39 amil coordinators to handle the zakat payments in the state.

“All of them will be provided with authority cards to prevent Muslims from paying zakat to unauthorised individuals,” he said here today.

Bungsu said MUIS has allocated RM15 million to be distributed to 46,474 asnaf (tithe recipients) throughout this Ramadan to help them prepare for Syawal.

In a related development, he said MUIS collected RM122.4 million in zakat last year, comprising zakat harta (property tithe) (RM111.7 million) and zakat fitrah (RM10.7 million), while a total of RM93.2 million was disbursed to 82,541 asnaf.

Meanwhile, the Selangor Zakat Board (LSZ) collected RM993 million in zakat last year, said its chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail.

He said a total of RM922 million in zakat assistance was distributed to asnaf in 2021, an increase of six per cent from RM867 million in the previous year.

“Some  69,011 families from the hardcore poor and poor categories received the zakat assistance in 2021. The increase in the number of asnaf was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the jobs and income of many individuals,” he told a virtual press conference today.

Syed Anwar said LZS aimed to collect over RM1 billion in zakat this year and improve its quality of service to asnaf and zakat payers.

-- BERNAMA