Qatar’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs has launched a new service to help Muslims fulfil religious duties.

A new zakat calculator service, which enables users to easily calculate zakat amount in cash, shares, gold and silver, has been launched by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Awqaf).

The service aims to help Muslims fulfil their zakat duties during the holy month of Ramadan, when people are most encouraged to donate a portion of their wealth to help those in need. For those that meet the criteria, giving zakat is considered one of the five pillars of Islam.

The new service by the ministry’s Zakat Fund not only gives users to option to calculate, but also to donate an amount to the fund itself using and easy-to-use online transaction.

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In order to calculate the amount in shares, the name of the company and number of shares are required. For gold and silver, users need to share the weight of gold and silver in grams.

Zakat is a form of almsgiving in Islam that is treated as a religious obligation or tax. As per Islamic rulings, Muslims are obliged to donate an amount equal to 2.5% percent of savings and financial assets that are not used towards living expenses.

The donations are collected by relevant authorities and distributed to those in need, including the poor.

In February, the Zakat Fund provided financial support amounting to more than QR 12.6 million that assisted 1,250 families.

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