Pic: IOU Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) Prof. Aliyu Dahiru Muhammad delivered keynote remarks at the opening session of the Capacity Building for Zakat Organizations workshop in Nigeria sponsored by the Islamic Development Bank Jeddah at Sokoto State Nigeria.

During his remarks he emphasized the importance of creating a synergy between Islamic banks and Zakat organizations. According to him, this is in line with the teaching of Islam in Surat Ma'idah verse 2 where Allah says (what means): "And help one another in goodness and piety and do not help one another in sin and aggression." He also cited several studies that demonstrated a more stable economy and impact when the ecosystem is put in place as compared to when the Islamic banks or Zakat houses work in silos.

He concluded by saying that Zakat and Waqf are two powerful instruments that have the capacity to combat poverty and inequality in Muslim countries. Their potentials of more than two trillion dollars are yet to be tapped for socio-economic development of the ummah.