Iran

Iranian Grand Shia Clerics Authorizes Donation of Part of Khoms Charity Tax to Pakistan Flood Victims

Grand-Shia-ClericsAyatollah Ali Safi Golpayegani and Ayatollah Mosavi issued a statement on Saturday authorizing that a third of the Imam’s share of the khoms charity tax be donated to floods victims in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s worst floods in 80 years have left 20 million people homeless and six million without food, medicine, or shelter.

A third of Pakistan is now under water, and fresh rainfall threatens two more waves of flooding in the southern province of Sindh.

According to the Encyclopedia of the Middle East, the Khoms charity tax as interpreted by the Jafari school of Shia Islam consists of a “tax on one fifth of the income, in addition to the zakat. It is calculated as a capital gains tax. The tax is paid to the governor, but it is voluntary and is never a forced exaction.”

According to the book Religion, Globalization, and Political Culture in the Third World, edited by Jeffrey Haynes, “Half of the khoms, known as the Imam’s share (sahm-e imam or vodjuhat) is generally collected by a network of mosques and is centralized by the devotional leaders (marja taqlid)… It is intended to ensure the material upkeep of the clergy.”

In response to the severe flooding in the Islamic state of Pakistan, which has claimed many lives and brought devastation to the Muslim people of that county, Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani expresses his condolences and allows a third of the Imam’s share to be donated as humanitarian assistance for Pakistan, the statement said.

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