The Elders Consultative Forum of Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Oyo State chapter, Sunday distributed over N2 million as zakat to 116 indigent in the state.
The beneficiaries received between N10,000 and N30,000 each.
The chairman of the forum, Alhaji Lasun Sanusi, said the gesture was to redistribute wealth and reduce poverty among Muslims and Nigeria in general.
Sanusi said poverty among the Muslims in Nigeria was gradually increasing because the rich failed to pay zakat.
He said most youths were leaving Nigeria because of poverty.
Sanusi called on rich Muslims to pay their zakat regularly and urged the beneficiaries to use the money well so that they too could be givers of zakat in furture.
The guest lecturer, Dr. AbdulRasheed AbdulAzeez , said payment of zakat by wealthy Muslims would purify their wealth and move them close to God.
He said it would also reduce unemployment, create love and eradicate insecurity.
The chairman of the occasion, Justice Mashud Abass, called for more enlightenment on the importance and consequences of zakat.
Speaking on behalf of other beneficiaries, Abdulateef Adeoye and Aishat Yusuf commended the forum and promised to use the money judiciously.
