I appreciate how long you’ve been working on this topic! I’ve read your related posts and the conversations are fascinating.
That said, I don’t think that plugging Zakat into an EA framework is possible. I haven’t seen any serious Muslim scholar support using Zakat funds to avoid global catastrophic risks or future pandemics. You’ve already been Fatwa shopping to no avail.
There’s only one clear area of overlap: direct cash transfers to poor Muslims. But I’m unsure how your group would conduct this work more effectively than popular charities like Islamic Relief or Helping Hand.
I have two alternative recommendations for your proposed group (and for any Muslim in EA):
Invite Muslims to EA: We can advise Muslims to donate to EA charities for the same reason that others do: to do the most good. It won’t count towards their obligatory Zakat, but it will count as voluntary Sadaqah. We ought to convince Muslims that giving 2.5% annually is a very low baseline and we should do more!
Lobby Muslim charities to be better: You say there’s no accountability / transparency demonstrated by the most popular Zakat-collection and distribution groups. Perhaps your group can write on what specific action / information is missing, why this is a problem worth addressing, and how these charities can do so.
Hi SShaikh, thanks for following the stuff I’ve written about this, and thanks for the comment. Some of what I want to explain will be contained in a long/formal report I’m writing on this topic. however, a couple of points in response:
That said, I don’t think that plugging Zakat into an EA framework is possible. I haven’t seen any serious Muslim scholar support using Zakat funds to avoid global catastrophic risks or future pandemics.
I think you’re mistaken in thinking that because zakat and longtermist projects aren’t compatible (which I think is true), that zakat isn’t compatible with EA. I think there is ample support for the possibility of zakat being used for global health interventions, which is historically and presently something EAs spend a lot of time working on. For me, “zakat being compatible with EA” means “its possible to increase the impact of zakat and allocate it in the most cost-effective way” and I think this has to be possible given the state of inefficiency in the way zakat is collected and distributed.
But I’m unsure how your group would conduct this work more effectively than popular charities like Islamic Relief or Helping Hand.
2. I’d be pretty surprised if Islamic Relief or Helping Hand are most cost effective than GiveDirectly. So perhaps the least impactful marginal improvement in zakat allocation would be getting people to shift from Islamic Relief or Helping Hands to GiveDirectly, provided GD establishes a zakat-compliant program like they’ve done in the past. Hopefully it will also be possible to get people to shift to zakat-compliant effective charities (e.g. hopefully something like Spiro or New Incentives) where they’d be increasing the counterfactual impact of each dollar by an order of magnitude. So even if only a fraction of current donors to IR or HH end up making this change, the EV difference between the two situations would still make it worth it to try and convince the small number of donors open to changing.
I have two alternative recommendations for your proposed group (and for any Muslim in EA):
Invite Muslims to EA: We can advise Muslims to donate to EA charities for the same reason that others do: to do the most good. It won’t count towards their obligatory Zakat, but it will count as voluntary Sadaqah. We ought to convince Muslims that giving 2.5% annually is a very low baseline and we should do more!
3.1 I think this is a good suggestion, but it’s not an alternative suggestion. We can try to grow the Muslim EA community (as Muslims for EA, Muslim Network for Positive Impact, and Muslim Impact Lab have been trying to do), at the same time as encouraging Muslims to maximise the impact of their sadaqah through regular effective giving orgs like GWWC or Afterfund, AND build infrastructure to meet the unique demands of zakat.
Lobby Muslim charities to be better: You say there’s no accountability / transparency demonstrated by the most popular Zakat-collection and distribution groups. Perhaps your group can write on what specific action / information is missing, why this is a problem worth addressing, and how these charities can do so.
3.2. Again, this is something I’d want to do as part of this project. It’s not clear yet whether or not the best path to impact would be to first e.g. a) get existing effective orgs to become zakat-compliant, b) get already-zakat-compliant orgs to become more cost effective, c) create a zakat-complaint org which collects donations and distributes them to cost effective orgs, d) create an org which only convinces and promotes effective zakat and then directs people to those orgs without collecting zakat ourselves.
For me, “zakat being compatible with EA” means “its possible to increase the impact of zakat and allocate it in the most cost-effective way” [ . . . .]
Indeed, effective giving being subject to donor-imposed constraints is the norm, arguably even in EA. Many donors are open only to certain cause areas, or to certain levels of risk tolerance, or to projects with decent optics, etc. Zakat compliance does not seem fundamentally different from donor-imposed constraints that we’re used to working within.
I look forward to reading your longer report. If you’re interested in convincing skeptics like me, I suggest addressing the following questions:
Can Muslims give Zakat to EA causes? We agree that Zakat and longtermist projects aren’t compatible, and that direct cash transfers to the poor are compatible. But what about other cause areas? I’m not familiar with Zakat being used for non-emergency global health interventions (e.g., deworming, reducing lead exposure, deploying insecticide-treated bed nets, etc.). It seems possible, given Zakat use for medical necessities during humanitarian crises (e.g., Gaza), but are there examples that you can provide here outside the context of war or natural disasters? If none currently exist, are there any orthodox Muslim scholars who support this use of Zakat?
What are the specific inefficiencies with Islamic Relief, Helping Hand, and other Muslim-run charities that concern you? You inspired me to do some research, and I’ve found some worrying reports about Islamic Relief USA “double dipping” on administrative fees, and LaunchGood not actually verifying their “Zakat-verified” campaigns. But generally speaking, do you think the top Muslim charities have higher administrative costs than those of other charities? If so, what’s your evidence?
Relatedly: Do you know if GiveDirectly considered their Zakat fund for Yemen a success? Given that 100% of the funds collected were distributed to Yemeni families in need, is this kind of program sustainable?
How will you convince Muslims to redirect their Zakat to non-Muslim charities? I suspect that a significant number of Muslims (including myself) willhesitate to do so. We’re fine giving Sadaqah to non-Islamic institutions, but there’s a general belief that Zakat should be distributed by, with, and through fellow Muslims. How do you propose tackling that issue?
How will you counter local-first doctrine? We’re often instructed that Zakat should be “focused locally to bring about change in the very environment in which the Zakat payers live.” (Yaqeen, p. 13) I personally don’t follow this rule, but it’s a popular one, and it pushes people to give Zakat to their local Masjid instead of internationally, where they could get the biggest bang for their buck. This principle does not appear to apply to Sadaqah, as far as I know, which is a contributing factor for why I think it’s easier to pull Muslims into GWWC than to shift their Zakat practices.
Lastly, one response:
It’s not clear yet whether or not the best path to impact would be to first e.g. a) get existing effective orgs to become zakat-compliant, b) get already-zakat-compliant orgs to become more cost effective, c) create a zakat-complaint org which collects donations and distributes them to cost effective orgs, d) create an org which only convinces and promotes effective zakat and then directs people to those orgs without collecting zakat ourselves.
I don’t think this is true. If you can do (B)—convince Zakat-compliant organizations to become more cost effective—so long as their Zakat programming is mostly direct cash transfers, that would be massive impact with minimal effort. You wouldn’t need to start a new org and staff it and get it Zakat-certified, or get an existing EA organization Zakat-certified and convince Muslims to trust them.
I appreciate how long you’ve been working on this topic! I’ve read your related posts and the conversations are fascinating.
That said, I don’t think that plugging Zakat into an EA framework is possible. I haven’t seen any serious Muslim scholar support using Zakat funds to avoid global catastrophic risks or future pandemics. You’ve already been Fatwa shopping to no avail.
There’s only one clear area of overlap: direct cash transfers to poor Muslims. But I’m unsure how your group would conduct this work more effectively than popular charities like Islamic Relief or Helping Hand.
I have two alternative recommendations for your proposed group (and for any Muslim in EA):
Invite Muslims to EA: We can advise Muslims to donate to EA charities for the same reason that others do: to do the most good. It won’t count towards their obligatory Zakat, but it will count as voluntary Sadaqah. We ought to convince Muslims that giving 2.5% annually is a very low baseline and we should do more!
Lobby Muslim charities to be better: You say there’s no accountability / transparency demonstrated by the most popular Zakat-collection and distribution groups. Perhaps your group can write on what specific action / information is missing, why this is a problem worth addressing, and how these charities can do so.
Hi SShaikh, thanks for following the stuff I’ve written about this, and thanks for the comment. Some of what I want to explain will be contained in a long/formal report I’m writing on this topic. however, a couple of points in response:
I think you’re mistaken in thinking that because zakat and longtermist projects aren’t compatible (which I think is true), that zakat isn’t compatible with EA. I think there is ample support for the possibility of zakat being used for global health interventions, which is historically and presently something EAs spend a lot of time working on. For me, “zakat being compatible with EA” means “its possible to increase the impact of zakat and allocate it in the most cost-effective way” and I think this has to be possible given the state of inefficiency in the way zakat is collected and distributed.
2. I’d be pretty surprised if Islamic Relief or Helping Hand are most cost effective than GiveDirectly. So perhaps the least impactful marginal improvement in zakat allocation would be getting people to shift from Islamic Relief or Helping Hands to GiveDirectly, provided GD establishes a zakat-compliant program like they’ve done in the past. Hopefully it will also be possible to get people to shift to zakat-compliant effective charities (e.g. hopefully something like Spiro or New Incentives) where they’d be increasing the counterfactual impact of each dollar by an order of magnitude. So even if only a fraction of current donors to IR or HH end up making this change, the EV difference between the two situations would still make it worth it to try and convince the small number of donors open to changing.
3.1 I think this is a good suggestion, but it’s not an alternative suggestion. We can try to grow the Muslim EA community (as Muslims for EA, Muslim Network for Positive Impact, and Muslim Impact Lab have been trying to do), at the same time as encouraging Muslims to maximise the impact of their sadaqah through regular effective giving orgs like GWWC or Afterfund, AND build infrastructure to meet the unique demands of zakat.
3.2. Again, this is something I’d want to do as part of this project. It’s not clear yet whether or not the best path to impact would be to first e.g. a) get existing effective orgs to become zakat-compliant, b) get already-zakat-compliant orgs to become more cost effective, c) create a zakat-complaint org which collects donations and distributes them to cost effective orgs, d) create an org which only convinces and promotes effective zakat and then directs people to those orgs without collecting zakat ourselves.
Indeed, effective giving being subject to donor-imposed constraints is the norm, arguably even in EA. Many donors are open only to certain cause areas, or to certain levels of risk tolerance, or to projects with decent optics, etc. Zakat compliance does not seem fundamentally different from donor-imposed constraints that we’re used to working within.
I look forward to reading your longer report. If you’re interested in convincing skeptics like me, I suggest addressing the following questions:
Can Muslims give Zakat to EA causes? We agree that Zakat and longtermist projects aren’t compatible, and that direct cash transfers to the poor are compatible. But what about other cause areas? I’m not familiar with Zakat being used for non-emergency global health interventions (e.g., deworming, reducing lead exposure, deploying insecticide-treated bed nets, etc.). It seems possible, given Zakat use for medical necessities during humanitarian crises (e.g., Gaza), but are there examples that you can provide here outside the context of war or natural disasters? If none currently exist, are there any orthodox Muslim scholars who support this use of Zakat?
What are the specific inefficiencies with Islamic Relief, Helping Hand, and other Muslim-run charities that concern you? You inspired me to do some research, and I’ve found some worrying reports about Islamic Relief USA “double dipping” on administrative fees, and LaunchGood not actually verifying their “Zakat-verified” campaigns. But generally speaking, do you think the top Muslim charities have higher administrative costs than those of other charities? If so, what’s your evidence?
Relatedly: Do you know if GiveDirectly considered their Zakat fund for Yemen a success? Given that 100% of the funds collected were distributed to Yemeni families in need, is this kind of program sustainable?
How will you convince Muslims to redirect their Zakat to non-Muslim charities? I suspect that a significant number of Muslims (including myself) will hesitate to do so. We’re fine giving Sadaqah to non-Islamic institutions, but there’s a general belief that Zakat should be distributed by, with, and through fellow Muslims. How do you propose tackling that issue?
How will you counter local-first doctrine? We’re often instructed that Zakat should be “focused locally to bring about change in the very environment in which the Zakat payers live.” (Yaqeen, p. 13) I personally don’t follow this rule, but it’s a popular one, and it pushes people to give Zakat to their local Masjid instead of internationally, where they could get the biggest bang for their buck. This principle does not appear to apply to Sadaqah, as far as I know, which is a contributing factor for why I think it’s easier to pull Muslims into GWWC than to shift their Zakat practices.
Lastly, one response:
I don’t think this is true. If you can do (B)—convince Zakat-compliant organizations to become more cost effective—so long as their Zakat programming is mostly direct cash transfers, that would be massive impact with minimal effort. You wouldn’t need to start a new org and staff it and get it Zakat-certified, or get an existing EA organization Zakat-certified and convince Muslims to trust them.