Dubai: Muslims in Qatar can pay zakat (charity) by sending a short message from their mobile to a telecommunication provider.
The charity amount, USD 4.10 (15 Qatari riyals), is either added to the user's bill or deducted from the call balance, and transferred to a special fund that will give it to the poor and the needy.
The service introduced in 2004 has been hugely popular and hundreds of thousands of Qatari Riyals are collected every year.
Muslims are required to give charity near the end of Ramadan, just before Eid Al Fitr, the feast that marks the end of fasting, in order to enable the needy to celebrate the joyous occasion.
Qatar's state-run Zakat Fund last year allocated USD 1.043 million (3.81 million riyals) for its daily Iftar programme.
PTI
First Published: Monday, August 15, 2011, 10:14