ZAKAT DISBURSEMENT ON BEHALF OF CERF

Thank you for asking this very important question regarding Zakat disbursement. At the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT), we are very particular about the disbursement of Zakat and take every step to ensure its compliance with Islamic injunctions and the aspirations of our donors. Let me take this opportunity to take you through our system step by step in detail.

Patients are registered for financially supported treatment after a thorough evaluation of the nature of the disease and the stage at which each patient has presented to one of our hospitals. This step ensures that all patients being accepted for financially supported treatment are cancer patients. Then the patients are routed to the Financial Support Services for financial evaluation to ascertain the extent of support they require. The staff shares the expected treatment cost and the patients share the details of their assets, dependents, income sources etc. and depending upon their financial position, a percentage for financial support is allowed. It would be pertinent to mention here that nearly 75% of the patients receive complete i.e. 100% support because they cannot cover their basic needs let alone the expensive treatment for cancer. Another 10% of the patients receive partial support and that too in which they are paying nominal amounts. Apart from this interview, we have field investigators who help in the verification of the information through alternate means to ensure that the patients who qualify for financially supported treatment truly deserve financial support.

Next, the patients are asked if they are eligible for Zakat or not. Those who claim to be eligible for Zakat are asked to fill a form (i.e. Iqrarnama) in which they certify that they are eligible for Zakat and nominate the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust as their agent (i.e. waqeel) for the collection of Zakat and Sadqa on their behalf. In addition to that, they are also asked to obtain a signed and stamped referral letter from their local Zakat authorities who also authenticate the patient’s eligibility for Zakat based on the local information. For these patients, their treatment is subsidized from the Zakat fund that is separately maintained. Revenue from the SKMT’s diagnostic and private services has always and continues to be utilised for our expansion projects/equipment and other expenses (including salaries). Zakat is exclusively utilised for providing direct patient care to the deserving patients. Patients who do not qualify for Zakat (e.g. Non-Muslims, Syed’s etc.) but deserve financial support have their treatment subsidized from the separate Donation Account of the SKMT. The implementation of this entire system, to ensure with precision that every penny is utilised in line with the eligibility of each patient every time a service is provided during the course of treatment, is made possible through a very sophisticated custom-built Hospital Information System. It is pertinent to mention here that the entire amount collected in the form of Zakat is completely exhausted in providing direct patient care within the same year.

We do not have a Shariah Board; however, we recognize Zakat disbursement at SKMT as a very serious matter and make every effort to ensure that that it is dispersed appropriately for deserving cancer patients by ensuring that:

•                  The patients who are receiving Zakat are truly eligible

•                  They have nominated SKMT as their representative (i.e. waqeel) for the collection of Zakat on their behalf

•                  The Zakat funds are separately accounted for in our Hospital Information System

Other than that, we leave it to the discretion of the individuals to decide according to their respective school of thought.