On Sunday, 01 Jumada Al-Ula 1443H corresponding to 05 December 2021G, His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), delivered a keynote speech at the International Conference of the 10th World Zakat Forum held in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia.

In his speech, His Excellency expressed his pleasure to participate in this important conference aimed at discussing ways to improve zakat institutions and Awqaf to address the dire effects of the Corona pandemic on all aspects of life, noting in this regard the good efforts made by religious and scientific institutions and centers in the Republic of Indonesia to raise awareness among Muslims with the details of their religion, and clarifying the provisions of Shariah regarding developments related to Muslims daily life. His Excellency also thanked the organizers, the “World Zakat Forum” and the “National Zakat Agency in Indonesia” (Baznas), looking forward to cooperation and coordination between them and the Academy in the future in such scientific events.

His Excellency then spoke about the status of zakat in terms of faith, as it is the third pillar of Islam, and in terms of its role in combating poverty in societies, stressing the importance of improving the performance of zakat institutions by developing their organs, modernizing their means, and digitizing their activities and programs to perform the role expected of them. To achieve this, His Excellency called for more care and attention to this institution on two levels in terms of development and keeping pace, namely the level of levying and collecting zakat from people who meet the conditions of obligation, and the level of distributing it to its eight known expenditures and beneficiaries. His Excellency pointed out that: “Intellectual, administrative and organizational efforts should unite in order to advance zakat institutions inside and outside the Muslim world in terms of performance, effectiveness, modernization and keeping pace, so that the objectives of its legislation are achieved, especially the objective of social justice in redistributing wealth in society, the objective of money circulation among the largest number of people in society, and the objective of solidarity and welfare through which well-being and happiness for all are achieved.

His Excellency also touched on the issue of Islamic social finance, of which Zakat is the most important institution, which requires promoting awareness of this aspect of comprehensive Islamic finance. In his speech, His Excellency pointed out the importance of scholars playing an active role in educating people about the status of zakat and the need to simplify its provisions and issues for the public to be able to understand and absorb them, as well as the need to make maximum use of modern and emerging technologies, especially new digital means, and technology of the financial industry, in order to find innovative solutions for zakat collection and distribution efforts. His Excellency also emphasized the position and status of the Republic of Indonesia in the Muslim world, which qualifies it to be a center for promoting awareness of Islamic social finance with its institutions and activities.

It should be noted that this conference was inaugurated by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Prof. Dr. Ma’ruf Amin, and a large group of eminent international personalities in the field of Zakat and Islamic finance participated in it.