Indonesia to use zakat, waqf to develop water and sanitation infrastructure
Photo: Villagers stand near their buckets while queuing for clean water at Pandantoyo village, in the outskirts of Bojonegoro, Indonesia's East Java province, October 18, 2013. The government sent 5,000 litres of clean water to every village after 16 districts in Bojonegoro suffered a shortage of clean water after wells and other water sources dried up from a recent drought. REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas
JAKARTA - Indonesia is planning to channel zakat, waqf, sadaqat and other Islamic social funds to develop water and sanitation infrastructure projects, the Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN) and National Planning Agency (Bappenas) said today.
PPN/Bappenas will work with the national zakat and waqf organisations Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (Baznas) and Badan Wakaf Indonesia (BWI), the organisations announced at the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Jakarta today.
This comes after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) passed a fatwa (pdf) in August 2015 allowing the use of Islamic social funds for the development of national projects for clean water and proper sanitation.
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