ABSTRACT
In 19821 felt the need (and saw the opportunity) to use the traditional Islamic charitable tax system of zakat as a means of helping the poorest rural people to escape from poverty. Zakat is the annual yearly hand-out from the local mosque of food and clothing for the poorest members of the community. It is raised from a tax levied on those who worship at the mosque and are considered to have the ability to pay. This donation occurs only once a year and its long-term result is that the same people are around the next year, still very poor. I made contact with the local branch of Mohammediyah (a national Indonesian Islamic reformist organization) who agreed that in 1982 the 180,000 Indonesian Rupiah (Rps) that they had collected for zakat alms could be channelled through a different system – one of community organization and community development.
