Abstract

Zakat and sadaqah as instruments of charity occupy a central position in the Islamic scheme of poverty alleviation. Zakat has been variously described by scholars as a tool of redistribution of income, a tool of public finance, and of course, as a mechanism of development and poverty alleviation. Center for Zakat Management (CZM), a pro-poor social enterprise in Bangladesh has been striving to implement a zakat-based livelihood and human development program with a new vision and approach. CZM through its projects has been initiating such participatory process of empowering the poor with capital, assets and capacities and helping development of their own organisations, giving access to financial and technical resources, supporting education, creating access to basic services, re-installing and practising socio-religious values and cultures and introducing social awareness program activities. With a view to achieve the objectives of the program CZM adopted the strategies that include Community Focused Program, Targeting Hardcore Poor, Integrated Development Approach, Access to capital, Capital Accumulation & Savings, Occupational skill Development, Capacity Building, Marketing Linkage Development, Transfer of Technology, Empowering Women, Spirit of Unity & Brotherhood, and Faith-based Social Capital. The project has shown a very enthusiastic result in terms of rising income level and as well as improvement of other aspects within a period of five years.

Keywords: Zakat, strategies, livelihood, poverty alleviation, CZM

JEL Classification: B00