would be anything between rs 45000 crore to 50000 crore says economist dr rahmatullah who is familiar with the pattern of zakat and whose organization all india council of muslim upliftment aicmu collects and distributes zakat money through its wing called baitul zakat house of zakat he also said that an authentic survey of zakat needs to be done why do madrassas corner a lions share of all this money islamic scholar maulana wahiduddin khan says the trend can be traced to the quranic verse 960 which describes the kind of people eligible to seek zakatthe verse as translated by maulana khan says alms are only for the poor and the destitute for those who collect zakat for conciliating peoples hearts for freeing slaves for those in debt for spending for gods cause and for travellers in need it is a legal obligation enjoined by god god is allknowing and wise although the verse does not provide for zakat money to be spent on religious education those who run madrassas seek the funds in the name of poor children attending the schools says khan collection of zakat and its distribution remain messy as there is no central zakat fund former civil servant zafar mahmood who established zakat foundation of india in 1998 says my foundations main aims include organized collection and institutionalized distribution of zakat we use zakat fund to run orphanages and educationally empower the muslim youths many also question the trend of giving zakat only in the month of ramzan though it can be given anytime in the year since it is believed that every good deed done in ramzan brings blessings 70 times more than in any other month most muslims give zakat in this month while it is true that ramzan brings boundless divine bounties collection and distribution of zakat should not be confined to just one month says senior cleric maulana shoeb koti who calls those who seek zakat year after year professional beggars these beggars are a bane and must be discouraged advocates maulana koti once you have taken zakat you should be zakat giver not seeker the likes of maulana qasmi who travel long distances to collect zakat will disagree