A Model for Estimating Zakah (Case Study of Qom Province)

Since Zakah (charity) is almost always mentioned alongside Salah (prayer) in the Qoran، and there are many sayings and narratives about the importance، extent، spending and adequacy of financial resources to alleviate poverty، there would be some kinds of misconceptions that tax can be replaced by zakah in Islamic countries. Therefore، all the Islamic governments’ needs as poverty alleviation which is the main objective of Zakah would be met. On the other hand، in respect of potential Zakah estimates which have been done according to the current feqh، some scholars indicated that even food poverty could not be alleviated by this kind of Zakah and other scholars believe that Zakah amount which is more than poverty alleviation can cover Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation’s costs. The present research seeks to prove that there are differences between legal opinions in properties subject to Zakah. If the differences are removed، estimates indicate that this Zakah will alleviate poverty entirely. For correcting model، the deductable costs should be modified regarding zakah properties based on percentages of water and dry farming and based on provinces’ climate change which affect average zakah rate according to the experts’ opinions. At the end this paper estimates Qom province’s Zakah amount and compare it with Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation’s costs.