TEHRAN - Benevolent people across Iran donated 4.69 trillion rials (about $13.5 million) in zakat (alms) during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 21.

The amount shows an increase of 18 percent in comparison to the same period last year, ISNA quoted Hossein Gilasi, an official with the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, as saying on Tuesday.

The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation has set a target to collect 18 trillion rials (about $50 million) in zakat in the current Iranian calendar year.

Zakat is the third of the Five Pillars of Islam and refers to giving a fixed portion of one's wealth to the needy and poor.

It enjoins every adult, mentally stable, free, and financially able Muslim, male and female, to pay a certain amount of money to support specific categories of people.

The profession of Faith (shahada) - the belief that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" - is the first pillar of Islam. Prayer (salat), alms (zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj) are the other four.

As much as 80 percent of the collected zakat is spent to provide basic foods for the needy and the rest is allocated for development projects in underprivileged areas, Asoudeh said.

Iran has been named the 32nd most generous country among 114 countries by the World Giving Index 2021.

The ranking is done based on the three indices of ‘helping a stranger', ‘donating money', and ‘volunteering time’.

Iran is 38th in helping a stranger, 23rd in donating money, and 92nd in volunteering time.

Reports suggest that Zakat payments globally were particularly high in 2020 as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

MG