The Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) continuously combs through Selangor to identify people in dire straits who need help.

A census was done on the residents of the Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) low-cost flats in Kota Damansara recently by its Skuad Jejak Kemiskinan (Poverty Detection Squad).

One who benefited from this survey and now receives monthly zakat is Mohd Wahid Rozali, 28, a despatcher who suffers from a health condition that limits his amount of physical activity.

“There was once a time when I was totally paralysed and couldn’t work. We had no money to buy milk for the children,” said the father of two. “My wife was forced to sell her clothes just to make RM20.”

In Eastern culture, giving is considered more honourable than receiving, which is why Amirul Zahari Kassim, 74, doesn’t believe in asking for handouts. But he is thankful for the zakat he is now receiving from LZS.

He said that as long as he is able, he will still go out to earn money through selling scrap cardboard, fruits and even fish he has caught himself.

“The monthly zakat has helped lighten my load. I know there are many more who have it harder. With the extra money I get from working, I pay the house rent and save the zakat,” said Amirul, who cares for two children and a disabled grandchild.

“The census was done by going on house visits to determine the haddul kifayah (zakat poverty line) of the 100 families pinpointed in Kota Damansara,” said LZS Petaling District distribution operations head Mohd Nur Fadhli Yohman.

Zakat recipients are made up of asnaf fakir (the poverty-stricken), muallaf (the newly-converted), asnaf gharimin (debtors) and fisabilillah (God’s workers).

“The people here are the urban poor who earn about RM1,200 (a month) and have four to five dependants. This amount of money is definitely not sufficient to survive on,” said Mohd Nur.

The LZS assistance is in the form of school fees and necessities, a Ramadan and Hari Raya contribution, as well as other kinds of help to cover immediate needs.

As of June 2018, LZS has come to the aid of 47,298 families, with 7,312 from the Petaling district, which includes Kota Damansara.

Sometimes up to 500 households are surveyed a week and a number of connected activities have to be carried out. So to ease the burden, LZS gets help from amil (zakat collector) assistants, the Muslim Volunteer Malaysia (MVM) association, schools, mosques and committees.

The groups are interested in lending a hand because they are eager to learn about the zakat process. “Working side by side allows us to learn from each other and gain new experiences,” said Mohd Nur.

Amil assistants are invaluable because they are residents of the area and know the people, said Mohd Nur.

In truth, the initial list of asnaf comes from them. They will assist the LZS officers during the verification process.

The monitoring is done for two months and includes a check on utility arrears, said Section 8, Kota Damansara assistant amil Zamri Abu Bakar.

“Some families choose not to register with LZS because they feel they are able to get by on what they have,” said Zamri. “However when we visit, we discover that life is hard for them, yet they are hesitant to ask for help.”

MVM president Muhammad Jantan said the exposure they’ve gained by helping the LZS has been enlightening and encourages more people to step forward to help the less fortunate.

“Our involvement shows that LZS is open to collaborating with others when it comes to alleviating suffering,” he said.

- Bernama