Zakatify users are able to pick from nearly 1,500 charities to support. Courtesy Zakatify
Zakatify users are able to pick from nearly 1,500 charities to support. Courtesy Zakatify
Zakatify users are able to pick from nearly 1,500 charities to support. Courtesy Zakatify
Zakatify users are able to pick from nearly 1,500 charities to support. Courtesy Zakatify

Tech entrepreneur plans to bring zakat into the modern age with a donation app


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

With charitable donations drying up precisely when they are needed more than ever by the poorest and most vulnerable, the coronavirus pandemic has left the global voluntary sector reeling.

Covid-19 has attacked every income stream, warn charity leaders, leaving organisations of all sizes unable to plug the funding gaps and facing difficult decisions regarding the future.

In recognition of the relief that zakat can bring in such a crisis, one entrepreneur believes that the time has come to embrace a revolutionary approach to the ancient alms-giving Pillar of Islam.

Shahed Amanullah, a technology expert, argues that the traditional nature of zakat as “a very reactive kind of donation” often leads to an imperfect distribution of funds.

"The whole process of collecting and distributing zakat has essentially been unchanged for 1,400 years," Mr Amanullah told The National. "It is actually a very inefficient system.

“We saw that what happened is that, come Ramadan, people would be scrambling to pay their zakat and figuring out at the last minute who to give it to. There’re a lot of worthy entities that aren’t on the radar.”

Former State Departement adviser Shahed Amanullah (L) and co-founder Ahmad Nassar. Courtesy Zakatify
Former State Departement adviser Shahed Amanullah (L) and co-founder Ahmad Nassar. Courtesy Zakatify

More than a year ago, he co-founded Zakatify, a donation management system that enables people to better engage with charities while also gaining a deeper understanding of where their money is going. In effect, it aims to turn the annual religious act of giving into a social experience for the greater good of all involved.

Users of the app are more easily able to determine which of the 1,500 zakat-eligible charities and causes - large and small, Islamic and non-religious - matter to them most.

Charities can be divided into clusters depending what their focus is. There are portfolios, comprised of from five to 11 organisations each, that concentrate on such causes as Syria, Palestine, protecting refugees, and supporting health and wellbeing.

Zakatify also helps people space out the gifting so that money may be donated on a monthly basis that provides charities with a dependable cash flow. Rather than a panicked, once-a-year contribution of zakat, Mr Amanullah and his team want to support a habit change that in the longer term is “better for the donor, better for the charity”.

He describes it as the opposite of crowdfunding, which is typically an appeal for support based on immediate need and requiring a one-time, urgent donation.

“The sad part of it is that so many of these charities have really compelling stories that nobody’s hearing and nobody’s listening to just because they are so small; they don’t have that many resources.”

Rohingya refugees walk on a road at the Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reuters
Rohingya refugees walk on a road at the Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reuters

One charity to benefit from Zakatify is the International Campaign for the Rohingya, an organisation dedicated to protecting the mainly Muslim ethnic group from south-east Asia.

The campaign’s executive director, Simon Billenness, has built on his experience as an anti-Apartheid campaigner to support the democracy movement in Myanmar. One of the organisation’s focuses now is pressuring firms to not do business with the Burmese military, which stands accused of genocide.

A long-term of aim of Mr Billenness is stopping the Burmese military from interfering in politics and putting them "back into the barracks under civilian control".

"Zakatify popped up one or two years ago," he told The National. "Suddenly, we started getting donations through paypal via Zakatify, which was great.

“It was kind of like when Facebook fundraisers started and all of a sudden, out of the blue, people were creating Facebook fundraisers on their birthdays. People we didn’t even know were raising money for us. That was terrific."

Ordinarily donations arrive during Ramadan and at the end of year rather than in a steady stream, Mr Billenness said.

“Like every other organisation, we are always trying to persuade our one-time donors to become monthly donors and so any mechanism that allows that, we like that a lot.”

It was while Mr Amanullah was working as a technology adviser for the US State Department that he met one of the other Zakatify co-founders, Quintan Wiktorowicz, who was advising the former US President Barack Obama. The inspiration for Zakatify came when the two men met the app’s third co-founder, Ahmad Nassar, a senior commercial figure in the National Football League looking for a new Zakat calculator.

“What we wanted to do is create a system that allowed people to more meaningfully engage with Zakat in a much more planned way, almost like the way you would manage a stock portfolio for example,” Mr Amanullah said.

Quintan Wiktorowicz (L) previously served in the White House under President Obama and Ahmad Nassar is president of NFL Players Incorporated. Courtesy Zatatify
Quintan Wiktorowicz (L) previously served in the White House under President Obama and Ahmad Nassar is president of NFL Players Incorporated. Courtesy Zatatify

“So, you would kind of carefully plan who would get [Zakat], you’d have the ability to discover causes that were off the grid and segment it over the year so that there’s no one big rush once a year. You space the payments out so that by the end of a calendar year, you’ve achieved your goal.”

Mr Amanullah contends that the Covid-19 crisis has shown that governments can’t always be counted on. He said that one of the lessons to come out of the past two months is that we all need to meaningfully support a broad base of charities doing important work in their communities.

“If we don’t, then the next time something like this happens we won’t have anyone to depend on. This is our chance to be the neighbours we always thought we were.”

The team

Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory 
Videographer: Jear Valasquez 
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory 
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat 
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova 
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi 

 
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company

The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.

He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.

“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.

“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.

HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon. 

With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?

It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?

Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.

The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.

The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.

Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver. 

The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.

But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.

Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.

It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.

So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.

Rory Reynolds

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'Outclassed in Kuwait'
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HBKU Press 

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Uefa Champions League, Group B
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Global Fungi Facts

• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil

Brief scores:

​​​​​​Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field

​Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55

Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out

Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets

The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
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General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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NBA Finals results

Game 1: Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114
Game 2: Warriors 122, Cavaliers 103
Game 3: Cavaliers 102, Warriors 110
Game 4: In Cleveland, Sunday (Monday morning UAE)

The biog

Name: Sarah Al Senaani

Age: 35

Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2

Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism

Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding

Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier

Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish

PROFILE OF CURE.FIT

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Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori

Based: Bangalore, India

Sector: Health & wellness

Size: 500 employees

Investment: $250 million

Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
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  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
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*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

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