THE QUIET REVOLUTION

When annual flood or drought exhausts the paddy fields, the lone income source of the poor villagers of Naogaon district, they become compelled to migrate to the big cities, in thousands, for livelihood. Leaving their peaceful homestead behind, they have to find shelter in fitly slums year after year.

Nowadays, things have changed decisively for 510 families from nine villages under Shoilgachhi and Shikarpur unions of Naogaon. These people were some of the poorest in the entire district. 40 families among them belong to minor Hindu and dalit communities. However, proper implementation of Zakat, an Islamic social security system, by Centre for Zakat Management (CZM), has incredibly changed the economic condition for these people. 

CZM, a non profit organisation dedicated to disburse zakat and to use it as an instrument for poverty alleviation, has given 52 lakh Tk, in the first phase, to 510 zakat recipient families by using collective revolving fund method. All the families have been divided into 18 teams. The teams are run and headed by women. Each group has been given 200,000 Tk, around 10, 000 Tk per family. In the second phase in October, this year, they will be given another instalment of 52 lakh Tk. This zakat has been donated by VIYELLATEX group, a leading apparel manufacturing industry of the country.

Masuma Akhter, the leader of a team of zakat recipients says, “My team's name is Shapla. There are 20 families in my team. Each family of my team has drawn 10,000 Tk for our work.”

“We weave rattan stems to make baskets, baby cots and small furniture. Our husbands sell those at the markets in Naogaon town. We get at least 50 tk profit per product. We share 10 percent of our profit with our collective fund,” adds Shottrani, a member of Shapla team.  

“When all the members of our group share their profit, the fund increases and we share it equally amongst ourselves. If anyone suffers loss in her business, she can take money from the fund. Here we have our own capital and we manage it on our own by depositing it to our group bank account. We don't need to borrow money anymore,” adds a happy Masuma. Many of these zakat recipients like Masuma have started different kinds of business such as tailoring, running grocery shops, rattan weaving and etc., besides agriculture. 

“Even a few months ago, I had to rely on my husband's meagre income to run my family and to pay back my loan instalments. Zakat has saved my life.  I have paid back most of my previous loans and I don't have to rely on my husband now,” says a confident Shottrani.

Besides zakat money and skill development training, the villagers of Naogaon are also receiving free health service and pre-primary education for their children with 4 pre-primary schools and a health centre. 

Niaz Rahim the chairman of CZM says, “Big corporate houses and eligible individuals produce a huge amount of zakat fund which, if utilised, can contribute a lot to the society. The goal of the CZM is to collect zakat and utilise it collectively to bring about a sustainable change by alleviating poverty.”

According to a research done by Islamic Relief Worldwide each year 25,000 crore BDT of zakat can be obtained from Bangladesh. If utilised properly to bring about sustainable economic development, it can be an opportunity, a possibility to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty. In doing so, these villages of Naogaon can be a glaring example.  

Photos: Courtesy