Why do Zakah Institutions in Sri Lanka Underperform?

Zakah as a compulsory worship obligation of Muslims has been practiced for several decades in an institutionalized form in Sri Lanka. Although the institutionalized mechanism contributes to some improvements in socioeconomic conditions, recent research highlighted that the impact of such a model is yet below the expected level. The institutional zakah practice in Sri Lanka has remained essentially informal lacking any state recognition or zakah specific regulation. This paper examined the contemporary challenges and root causes of the zakah institutions’ underperformance in Sri Lanka. This paper took a qualitative methodology and collected primary and secondary data through official documents, interviews, and published literature. The empirical findings of the paper reveal a threefold challenge that contributes to the inefficient institutional zakah performance, namely low collection, ineffective disbursement, and external hurdles. The paper suggests that the prolonged dominant informal and individualist zakah culture of Sri Lankan Muslims fails to actualize the designated goals of zakah and this in turn has contributed to the contemporary challenges. The paper highlights the need for developing an alternative jurisprudential methodology that has the potential to offer sensible remedies to the contemporary identified challenges. The paper suggests that zakah institutions must thoroughly re-evaluate existing zakah applications to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their zakah management systems. It is also suggested that it would be helpful to establish a National Zakah Consultative Body that can advise the government on adopting effective regulations or guidance relevant to zakah management for the Sri Lankan Muslim minority

Why do Zakah Institutions in Sri Lanka Underperform?

Zakah as a compulsory worship obligation of Muslims has been practiced for several decades in an institutionalized form in Sri Lanka. Although the institutionalized mechanism contributes to some improvements in socioeconomic conditions, recent research highlighted that the impact of such a model is yet below the expected level. The institutional zakah practice in Sri Lanka has remained essentially informal lacking any state recognition or zakah specific regulation. This paper examined the contemporary challenges and root causes of the zakah institutions’ underperformance in Sri Lanka. This paper took a qualitative methodology and collected primary and secondary data through official documents, interviews, and published literature. The empirical findings of the paper reveal a threefold challenge that contributes to the inefficient institutional zakah performance, namely low collection, ineffective disbursement, and external hurdles. The paper suggests that the prolonged dominant informal and individualist zakah culture of Sri Lankan Muslims fails to actualize the designated goals of zakah and this in turn has contributed to the contemporary challenges. The paper highlights the need for developing an alternative jurisprudential methodology that has the potential to offer sensible remedies to the contemporary identified challenges. The paper suggests that zakah institutions must thoroughly re-evaluate existing zakah applications to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their zakah management systems. It is also suggested that it would be helpful to establish a National Zakah Consultative Body that can advise the government on adopting effective regulations or guidance relevant to zakah management for the Sri Lankan Muslim minority

توريث الطفل المتبنى في قانون الميراث الخاص بمسلمي سريلانكا: دراسة فقهية تحليلية = Inheritance of adopted child in Muslim intestate succession law of Sri Lanka: an analytical juristic study

ملخص تهدف هذه الدراسة بصورة أساسية إلى التعرض لقضايا الميراث في القانون الخاص بمسلمي سريلانكا من خلال استقراء النصوص القانونية المتعلقة بها حيث تتركز الدراسة على التعرف على مدى تطبيقات الشريعة في قضايا الإرث. وقد تبين من خلال هذه الدراسة أن الأقلية المسلمة السريلانكية تسري عليها أحكام الشريعة فيما يخص قضايا الإرث كتوريث المتبنى، حيث تم صدور القرار عن المحكمة العليا بشأن قضايا توريث المتبنى بأن المتبنى لا يقر له بحق الوراثة حسب قانون الميراث الخاص بالمسلمين المعتمد على الشريعة الإسلامية. وتتضمن الدراسة المبحثين، وبالنسبة للمبحث الأول يتناول نبذة تاريخية لقانون الميراث الخاص بمسلمي سريلانكا وتعريف المواد القانونية المتعلقة بالميراث، ويتحدث المبحث الثاني عن تطبيق الشريعة في قضية توريث المتبنى على مسلمي سريلانكا. وتعتمد الورقة البحثية على المنهج الاستقرائي في تتبع المواد القانونية المتعلقة بالميراث من مصادرها ومراجعها المناسبة، والمنهج التحليلي في الشرح والاستدلال والمناقشة. تمكن الباحث بعد استقراء قضايا الميراث وتوريث المتبنى في القانون السريلانكي، بالإضافة إلى تحليل النصوص الشرعية والقانونية المتعلقة بالموضوع من التوصل إلى أهم النتائج، منها، أولا: يتم السماح للأقلية المسلمة في سريلانكا بتنفيذ الأحكام الخاصة بالميراث كما ورد في الفقه الإسلامي، والذي يسمى بقانون الميراث الخاص بالمسلمين رقم 10 لعام 1931م، إلا أن هذا القانون لم يتعرض لأحكام الميراث بشكل واضح، بل اكتفى بإجازة تطبيقه على وجه العموم. وثانيا: قد تم صدور القرار عن المحكمة العليا في سريلانكا بأن الطفل المتبنى لا يستحق الميراث من مال المتبني المسلم وفق قانون الميراث الخاص بالمسلمين المعتمد على الشريعة الإسلامية، مع أن قانون التبني السريلانكي الذي ضم كافة المواطنين السريلانكيين من المسلمين وغيرهم، أجاز توريث المتبنى في المادة السادسة. وهذا يدل على أن أحكام الشريعة تطبق على القضايا المتعلقة بالميراث بين المسلمين. وثالثا: يقتضي قانون الميراث الخاص بالمسلمين رقم 10 لعام 1931م المواد الإضافية التي تتعرض لأحكام الشريعة في الميراث حتى لا يكون هناك غموض في تطبيقه. الكلمات المفتاحية: القانون- الميراث- الأقلية المسلمة- المتبنى- سريلانك

تحديات العولمة الغربية للتعايش الحضاري والعلاقات الدولية: مقاربة إسلامية = Challenges of western globalization to civilizational coexistence and international relations: an Islamic approach

يسلط هذا البحث الضوء على بعض ما تواجهه شعوب العالم من تحديات تمثّلها العولمة الغربية التي ظلّت تكرّس على العلاقات الدولية واقعا جديدا يتّسم بالهيمنة، متجاهلة أن حجر الزاوية في العلاقات الإنسانية، الاعتراف بوحدة الأسرة البشرية، التي تمتد من أبينا آدم وأمنا حواء إلى قيام الساعة، وأن الله تعالى خلق جميع الناس من أصل واحد. إن جذور مشاكل البشر في كل عصر هو التجاهل المتعمّد لبعضهم البعض، وسعي كل فئة لاستئصال المخالفين والمعارضين لها، وحرمانهم من حقهم في الحياة، انطلاقا من اعتقادها بكريم أصلها، وطيب معدنها، وأنها هي التي يجب أن تسود وتقود، وعلى الآخرين أن يكونوا تابعين. ومما توصلت إليه هذه الدراسة - التي استخدمت المنهجين الاستقرائي والتحليلي - أنه ما كانت الحروب لتقوم بين الشعوب لولا عدم الاعتراف بان أصل البشر واحد، خلقهم الله من آدم وحواء، وجعلهم شعوبا وقبائل للتعارف والتآلف، لا للتعارك والإيذاء والتخالف. لم يكن اهتمام أصحاب فكرة "العولمة" باستقرار الشعوب، واستتباب الأمن، وتعاون الدول، وتحقيق العدل، وانتشار السلام بين الأنام، بقدر ما كان اهتمامهم بجمع الثروات ونهب الخيرات، واستغلال الشعوب المقهورة، وفرض ثقافة الهيمنة والسيطرة والقطب الأوحد، ومساندة قوى الظلم والاحتلال وهو ما يرفضه منطق النديّة في العلاقات الدولية، واحترام سيادة الدول على أراضيها ومواردها. ***** Challenges of Western Globalization to Civilizational Coexistence and International Relations: an Islamic Approach is a study intended to shed some light on the challenges faced by the peoples of the world in this globalized village where the Western Globalization continued to impose on international relations a new reality characterized by hegemony, ignoring that the cornerstone of human relations is the recognition of the unity of the human family, which extends from our father Adam and our mother Eve until the Day of Judgment. Moreover, Allah the Almighty created all people from one origin. The roots of human problems in every era are the deliberate neglect of each other, and the efforts of each group to eradicate those who violate and oppose it, and deprive them of their right to life, based on its belief in the noble origin and good nature of its origin, and that it is the one who must prevail and lead, and others must be followers. Among the findings of this paper, which used inductive and analytical methods, is that wars would not have occurred between peoples had it not been for the lack of recognition that the origin of humans is one. Allah the Mighty and Sublime created them from Adam and Eve and made them into nations and tribes for the purpose of knowing each other and getting along, not for fighting and harming one another. The thinkers behind the idea of “globalization” were not concerned with the stability of peoples, the establishment of security, the cooperation of states, the achievement of justice, and the spread of peace among nations all over the glob, as much as their interest was in amassing and plundering wealth, exploiting oppressed nations, imposing a culture of domination and control, and a unipolar mentality, and supporting the forces of injustice and occupation, which is rejected by the logic of equality in International Relations, and respecting the sovereignty of countries over their lands and resources

Addressing the contemporary jurisprudential issues faced by zakāh institutions in Sri Lanka: an analytical study

The institutionalized zakāh setup in the context of the Sri Lankan Muslim minority emerged i n the last phase of the twentieth century and it is currently estimated that more than a hundred voluntary zakāh organizations have been functioning across the country. Although the institutionalization contributed to the well-being of the Muslim minority community, some preliminary works have highlighted that such institutionalization of zakāh practices did not impact enhancing the socio-economic well-being of the Muslim minority community of Sri Lanka to the expected level. Against this background, this research paper critically examines the current state of zakāh institutions in Sri Lanka. For that purpose, this research has examined selected four zakāh institutions reflecting the and demographical distribution of the community. This qualitative study collected data through primary sources such as interviews and official documents. And also, the thematic content analysis method was used to analyze the collected data. This study finds that one of the major obstacles which prevent the realization of the objectives of zakāh in the contemporary Sri Lankan context is jurisprudential in nature. Classical jurisprudential reasoning does not provide alternative solutions to the jurisprudential problems peculiar to Sri Lanka. Thus, this study understands that a particular jurisprudential intervention is needed to respond to the challenges mentioned earlier. Hence, this study further suggests that the Fiqh of Muslim minorities could play a potential role in developing alternative jurisprudential discourse. In that sense, this research indicates that to contribute to the current debate on the application of Islamic jurisprudence regarding institutionalized zakāh management in Muslim minority contexts, the method of fiqh of Muslim minorities must be applied

Call for a hybrid model of Zakāh disbursement in Sri Lanka

This paper chiefly is focused on analyzing the disbursement system of Sri Lankan voluntary zakāh institutions. Although the institutionalization of zakāh has been in existence for several decades, its impact on the socio-economic condition of the Sri Lankan Muslim minority remains limited. According to some preliminary studies, the dominant consumption-oriented zakāh disbursement is a prime factor hampering the materialization of multiple socio-economic objectives of zakāh in the Sri Lankan pluralistic context. This study deployed the qualitative method along with content analysis to analyze the relevant data collected from the interviews and the existing literature on the subject. This study proposes that the current consumption-oriented distribution should be combined with the result-oriented distribution and carried out at all regional levels in a standard and well-planned manner that is capable to accommodate the investment and skill-oriented distributing systems. Such a hybrid mode of disbursement would contribute to realizing the broader objectives of zakāh for Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka