INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN - The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation has set a target to collect 18 trillion rials (about $60 million) in zakat (alms) in the
current Iranian calendar year (ending March 2023).In the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, 7.94 trillion rials in zakat
have been collected, an increase of 44 percent year on year, IRIB quoted Habibollah Asoudeh, deputy director of the Imam Khomeini Relief
Foundation, as saying on Wednesday.About 80 percent of the collected zakat is spent to provide basic foods for the needy and the rest is
portion of one's wealth to the needy and poor.It enjoins every adult, mentally stable, free, and financially able Muslim, male and female,
to pay a certain amount of money to support specific categories of people.The profession of Faith (shahada) - the belief that "There is no
god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" - is the first pillar of Islam
Prayer (salat), alms (zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj) are the other four.As much as 80 percent of the collected zakat is spent
to provide basic foods for the needy and the rest is allocated for development projects in underprivileged areas, Asoudeh said.Iran has been
named the 32nd most generous country among 114 countries by the World Giving Index 2021.The ranking is done based on the three indices of
volunteering time.Reports suggest that Zakat payments globally were particularly high in 2020 as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.MG
