The Adopted Model In The Institutional Administration Of Zakah In Kano State, Nigeria

This paper is a study of the Kano State Zakat and Hubusi Commission in the collection and distribution of Zakah. It employed qualitative research design to find out the model applied in the administration of Zakah in Kano state. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources including the law establishing the Commission, reports prepared by the Commission, unpublished researches etc. The findings showed that, the law establishing the Commission provided it with the powers to collect and distribute Zakah. But the law did not prescribe items of Zakah, the beneficiaries, Nisab, and method of calculation. It also does not compel the contributors to hand over Zakah to the Commission. To achieve the above administrative processes, the Commission designed internal policies on items, calculation, Nisab, beneficiaries, collection and distribution. However, absence of a law conferring on the Commission the authority to collect Zakah on obligatory basis, shows that Kano state runs voluntary model of administration of Zakah, similar to what obtains in some contemporary Muslim countries. The weakness of voluntary administration, is the inability of Zakah administering bodies to collect reasonable amount of proceeds. This naturally affects the overall objective of applying Zakah to cushion the suffering of the poor.