Jurists, leaders and scholars across the world of Islam have issued fatwa (religious statement) demanding Muslims to pay their annual Zakat for the people affected in the recent powerful quake in Turkey and Syria.

The religious leaders announced that the quake-stricken people in Turkey and Syria should also receive the money collected as Zakat, reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).
 
The statements have been issued in line with the global campaigns for collecting aids in support of those devastated by the 7.8 magnitude tremor which jolted Syria and Turkey thousands of people dead, injured or homeless.
 
The Committee of Ijtihad and Fatwa at World Union of Muslim Scholars has stressed in its recent statement that those quake-stricken people who have lost all their properties and family members should receive Zakat just like the poor and the needy.
 
Zakat is a pillar of Islam and a religious duty for all Muslims to annually pay a portion of their wealth for the needy. It is a mandatory charitable contribution that can be viewed as Islamic tax and is paid based on the value of one’s possessions.