Abstract
Zakat, the obligation to look after people in need by giving them a share of the wealth flowing through society, is recognized in the Islamic tradition as both a personal pious action and an institutional practice formalized by legal regimes. This dual character provides zakat with considerable malleability. Focusing on the trajectory of the “zakat committee” of Nablus since the 1970s, this article analyzes the different social and legal mechanisms that hold zakat committees in Palestine accountable. First, zakat committee members are under the constant observation of the local community and exposed to their ethical judgement. The local reputation of the zakat committee in Nablus depends on their integrity in running the committee and on their display of Muslim virtues in social interactions with others. Secondly, regional governments oversee zakat committees and hold them accountable. Finally, committee members have come under the increasing scrutiny of security surveillance and global policies of “combatting the financing of terrorism,” leading to forced closures in 2007. Due to the contested nature of political power in Nablus (the city has been under military occupation since 1967), these different mechanisms of accountability are sometimes remarkably disconnected. Notwithstanding, the malleability of zakat as a Muslim practice adapting to changing circumstances provides this form of care for people in need with tenacity.
Schaeublin, Emanuel