Mosque leaders in the UK have been told that the hundreds of millions of pounds donated by Muslims every year should be spent in the UK rather than on causes overseas.
Zakat which is one of the five pillars of Islam, which calls on Muslims to donate 2.5% of their wealth to help those in need. Chief executive of the National Zakat Foundation, Iqbal Nasim said that British Muslims donate up to £300 million every year in zakat, and also stated that over 98% was donated for overseas aid, however, Islam teaches that zakat should support the donor's local community. Nasim further stated that Muslims could still donate separately for overseas aid but zakat was something else. He said, “Zakat is not charity. It is more like a tax. It is supposed to be focused on the local areas where supporters live.”
