GiveDirectly has launched their 3rd high-impact, evidence-backed Zakat fund in Mozambique, one of the most neglected crises in the world today. Through direct cash transfers, families receive support quickly, transparently, and with full autonomy over how to use it.

At a glance, this fund:

• Sends 100% of your Zakat directly to eligible Muslim families in northern Mozambique
• Provides $550 in unconditional cash per household
• Uses an evidence-backed approach supported by 1,000+ studies
• Is fully Zakat-compliant, certified by qualified Islamic scholars
• Uses no Zakat for overheads, with operational costs funded separately
• Preserves dignity and choice, allowing families to decide what they need most

Visit https://www.givedirectly.org/zakat2026/ to donate.

A forgotten crisis

Mozambique has been called “the forgotten crisis” — 4 in 5 of people were already living in extreme poverty (one of the highest rates of poverty in the world) before the country lost 70% of their U.S. aid funding from cuts last year.

In northern Mozambique, where your Zakat funds will go, families face overlapping crises: armed conflict and violence, worsening cyclones, and high rates of malaria and infant mortality.

Despite the scale of need, these Muslim communities are often overlooked by international aid organizations and remain unseen by Muslims giving Zakat. 

GiveDirectly has been working in Mozambique for 5 years, reaching some of the poorest Muslim communities in the northern coastal areas through this simple but evidence-backed, high-impact approach: direct cash transfers, with no strings attached.

The evidence for cash

With over 1,000 studies, direct cash has the largest evidence base of any anti-poverty program. It’s shown to be among the most effective tools to reduce poverty, improve the health and well-being of families and build resilience. 

Independent randomized studies have found GiveDirectly’s cash led to:

• 🤱 48% decrease in infant deaths
• 💸 2.5x increase in local economic activity per dollar transferred
• 🍛 Improve food security and nutrition (even more than a nutrition program)
• ⏰ Lasting financial gains, even 7 years later

When cash is spent locally, it also supports nearby businesses. In contrast to in-kind transfers that often undercut local merchants, direct cash circulates and helps entire communities recover from crises and grow. In some contexts, $2 of indirect benefit for every $1 given.

And it’s not wasted! People don't just blow it on alcohol. In contrast to common concerns, on average across multiple studies, spending on temptation goods like tobacco and alcohol actually decreases.

Independent charity evaluator GiveWell concluded that “GiveDirectly is one of the strongest programs that we’ve found in years of research”. 

Enock Wangila, an expert from the humanitarian NGO Mercy Corps, has said that “there is overwhelming evidence that shows that unconditional cash transfers are the best mode of providing assistance to the most vulnerable, because they are best placed to understand the needs that they’re experiencing and meet that need.”

Zakat and cash

From an Islamic Socio-Ethical perspective, paying Zakat on your wealth via cash transfer is recognised by most Islamic scholars as an acceptable means of donating, whereas paying people in poverty via in-kind items such as food without a specific reason to do so is the subject of some scholarly disagreement.

For example, Dr. Shahrul Hussain, a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and graduate of the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, argues that charities should refrain from unnecessarily converting donations into in-kind items or to fund programmes, as “zakat-money belongs to the recipients to spend it as they see fit”. Hussain argues charities do not have the right to determine how to spend zakat; from an Islamic perspective, the money belongs to the recipients, and so should be given to them as cash, so that they can decide how best to spend it for themselves.

To quote Innocent Tshilombo, a refugee advocate, "If you've never been on the receiving end of aid, you are lucky. But if one day you are in that position, ask yourself - do you want other people making choices about what you eat and how you spend your money?" People know best what they need.

Direct cash honours dignity. It empowers families with choice. And it delivers impact quickly and transparently.

GiveDirectly identifies the poorest households and sends them cash transfers directly. Families use the support in the ways that matter most to them — food, home repairs, school fees, medicine, starting a business or whatever else they need. 

The zakat program is reviewed and certified by qualified Islamic scholars at Amanah Advisors to ensure that it fully aligns with zakat principles. Your zakat is distributed promptly in cash, with 100% of funds reaching eligible Muslim families directly. All costs associated with the distribution of these funds (e.g. staff salaries, bank fees) are covered from separate, non-Zakat funds.

Recording of the Webinar

The Muslim Network for Positive Impact hosted GiveDirectly to discuss the Zakat fund. You can watch it here:

This year, we invite you to channel your Zakat where it can create real, lasting change to a neglected community through an effective, evidence-backed, high-impact, and dignifying mechanism: direct cash.

Visit https://www.givedirectly.org/zakat/ for more information and to donate!

About the Authors

The Muslim Impact Lab is a multidisciplinary research organisation dedicated to finding ways of maximizing the positive social impact of our servitude from an Islamic perspective. Their research methodology draws on rigorous evidence, careful reasoning, and different understandings of the Divine intent throughout our Islamic intellectual history.

GiveDirectly is a nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest, no strings attached. In the last decade, GiveDirectly has delivered $900M+ to over 1.6 million people across eleven countries while undertaking 23 RCTs with independent academics and non-profit research groups. GiveDirectly has an established record of operational excellence and transparency – achieving consistent ratings as one of GiveWell’s top charities – and in less than a decade has become an influential, innovative player in the poverty-reduction and humanitarian spaces.