The Islamic Ministry has revised the 'Nisab' applied on Zakat-al-Mal for this year.
Zakat-al-Mal is a religious obligation for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth and is a mandatory charitable contribution. Each year, the Islamic Ministry decides on a Nisab, the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to give Zakat. The ministry in April last year set the Nisab at MVR 6,961.50. The figure was later revised to 6,878.20 in August.
However, the ministry on Monday said the Nisab has been revised to MVR 7,241.15 from March 17 onwards. Therefore, the Zakat will be required to be paid by those whose personal wealth was above the revised Nisab for one lunar year.
Zakat-al-Mal is paid to the Islamic Ministry. However, the payments are collected by Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).
According to statistics released by MIRA, MVR 9.9 million was collected by the authority as Zakat-al-Mal during the first two months of the current year: MVR 7 million in January, and MVR 2.9 million in February. Last year, MIRA collected MVR 90.6 million.
