To help people during the holy month of Ramadan, the Department of Zakat Affairs at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has established 31 Zakat collection sites.
The Department is getting ready to release a smart device software with zakat-related services. Director of Zakat Affairs Department, Saad Imran Al Kuwari, stated at a recent event that "the Department made necessary preparations, offering a number of services to facilitate them" because the majority of people give Zakat during Ramadan.
According to him, the Department gets alms through its branch offices, collection points at malls and markets, bank transfers, the Hukoomi portal for Qatar's e-government, and collecting officers. According to Al Kuwari, SMS service is also offered for the Zakat Al Fitr.
He claimed that the locations where Zakat is collected work in two schedules from 9 am to 2 pm and 8 pm to 11:30 pm. According to Al Kuwari, "The Department of Zakat Affairs operates 15 branch offices and 16 points for collecting Zakat."
There are zakat collection points operating at the following locations: the Mall of Qatar, Villagio Mall, Dar Al Salam Mall, Family Food Center (Al Rayyan), Lulu Hypermarket (Al Gharrafa), Tawar Mall, Al Meera Bani Hajar Branch, Hamad General Hospital (temporarily), The Mall, Landmark, The One, The Pearl-Qatar, Sidra Mall, Al Meera (Najma, Al Wakrah), and Women (temporarily).
Al Kuwari stated that the Research and Studies Section of the Zakat Services Department gets thousands of calls from people seeking information about the Zakat obligation during the blessed month of Ramadan.
He claimed that hotlines 44700071, 55188887, and 55188889 offer zakat computation services.
According to Al Kuwari, the agency is getting ready to release a mobile app with services like zakat calculation and questions about giving zakat.
He claimed that those in need will be able to use the app to register for aid and monitor the status of those applications.
The value of Zakat Al Fitr is determined every year by researchers and legal experts working with the Zakat Affairs Department, the formal government agency in charge of collecting Zakat and giving it to the recipients inside Qatar.
Food baskets (Ramadan aid), which the department used to provide prior to the blessed month of Ramadan, are additionally provided to the beneficiaries enrolled with the Zakat Fund in addition to the monthly and fixed aid.
Throughout the holy month, employees interact with those in need during regular business hours to meet their needs, speed up the process of opening files for them and doing the required research to confirm their eligibility for aid, and then the aid is approved for disbursement.
