MAIJ denies misappropriation of zakat

The Johor Islamic Affairs Council (MAIJ) has denied claims that zakat (tithe) funds are being there misappropriated, as alleged by an applicant. 

Replying to Malaysiakini, MAIJ said the in-kind assistance provided to the complaint was valued at RM4,850, matching the delivery order.

As such, it denied that the items have a retail value of only RM744, as claimed by disabled man Azizan Jaafar. 

"Azizan's application was approved in October 2012, and he was provided with an autoclave steriliser costing RM3,500 and six qualitybekam (cupping) equipment costing RM1,350," MAIJ said.

This despite photographs of the items provided by Azizan showing that the steriliser is actually a "towel warmer" and not an industrial autoclave. Similar towel warmers retail for less than RM1,000 in e-stores surveyed byMalaysiakini. 

Packaging for the bekam cups also appear to the same as those on sale at less than RM10 per piece.

MAIJ also denied Azizan's claim that a supplier had "taken a cut" from the aid which MAIJ had approved for the applicant. 

Instead, it said, Azizan had asked the supplier for cash instead of in-kind assistance, which went against the procedures.

"We will meet with the supplier and the recipient to solve this issue," it said.

'Not all disabled are poor'

Asked why other disabled applicants found it difficult to get zakat aid, MAIJ said this was because they "do not meet the criteria" set by MAIJ. 

"Not all the disabled are poor. MAIJ can only provide zakat for those who are poor... MAIJ is committed to helping those who deserve of zakat assistance."

MAIJ expects the zakat collection for this year to be higher than that collected last year, with the figure up to September hitting RM135 million.

Utusan Malaysia reported that MAIJ collected RM170 million in 2012 of which RM120 million has been spent to aid the deserving.

MAIJ also has a special committee to eradicate poverty in Johor, conduct training for zakat recipients and monitor recipients' progress to ensure they become self-reliant.