Reis Kavazović declares obligation to pay zakat and sadaqah al-fitr to the BiH Islamic Community treasury

Reisu-l-ulema Husein ef. Kavazović led the Friday prayer today and delivered a sermon in the Emperor's Mosque in Sarajevo, where he declared the obligation to pay zakat and sadaqah al-fitr to the Bait al-mal of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The full text of the sermon is published on the website rijaset.ba, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP). Ef. Kavazović stated, among other things, that God's blessings are given to people in immeasurable quantities and values.

- Without the goodness of the Lord of the worlds, there would be no life, nor people. In His great mercy towards the worlds and towards people, He asks for only a little: that we follow His guidance and be grateful to Him. He has honored us Muslims with a unique opportunity for this. Among the twelve months of the year, He chose one as special – said ef. Kavazović.

Brothers and sisters, as he said, it is our unique call, as believers, to always approach good and strive for it.

- The more we strive for it, the less space we will leave for evil and its protagonists to dominate. We are not allowed to sit on the sidelines and expect others to fight for good and draw the line between good and evil. We are not allowed to let go of the means by which we can strengthen good and make it dominant in our society and in the community in which we live. The sooner we understand and accept this, our lives will take on a different meaning and completeness – he added.

Reis Kavazović said not to forget about „our unfortunate ones“ and that in Ramadan we set aside funds for zakat and sadaqah al-fitr. These are primary obligations, the first fard, and the second  wajib, for every wealthy Muslim man and woman.

- Guided by the unambiguous verses of the Quran about the obligation of zakat, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and the actions of his first caliph Abu Bakr, in my capacity as the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by the authority of the Menšura, and according to the Constitution of the Islamic Community, according to which Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, as well as Muslims abroad, are members of one community, I announce that the allocation of zakat and sadaqah al-fitr to the Bait al-mal fund of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an obligation of every Muslim man and woman, stemming from the Quran, Sunnah, and ijtihad (consensus) of our Community – stated ef. Kavazović.

In these funds, he emphasized, lies the right of the poor and weak, as well as the right to fulfill the needs of preserving, functioning, and improving the work of institutions and establishments of the Islamic Community in BiH, which require time and place.

- With this sermon in Fatih's (Emperor's) Mosque in Sarajevo, I am fulfilling my obligation, as reisul-l-ulema, to draw the attention of brothers and sisters, Muslim men and women, to the duty and obligation of allocating zakat and sadaqah al-fitr to the Bait al-mal of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina – added the head of the Islamic Community in BiH.