Mosque in London Receives Zakat Fitrah Using Bitcoin

Each holy month of Ramadan, Muslims have one other obligation besides fasting.

The obligation is zakat fitrah.

Zakat fitrah is giving some of the treasures to those in need.

The amount is usually adjusted to the amount of rice, which is equivalent to 2.5 kg of rice.

Zakat fitrah is done once, with time throughout Ramadan until the morning before Eid prayer.

This time there is a unique news coming from the capital of England, London.

In London, there is a mosque that receives zakat fitrah using digital currency or Bitcoin.
A mosque in Hackey, East London, makes history the first mosque to receive digital currency for alms and alms.

Not just in London, this could be the first mosque in the world to allow the policy.

The precisely located Jamaat Mosque in Shacklewell Lane also receives a digital currency other than Bitcoin ie Ethereum.

The takmir at the Ramadan Mosque hopes to get a donation of at least £ 10,000 through Bitcoin and Ethereum for the need to repair the mosque.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mosque, Erkin Guney, said that this new breakthrough is their experiment to 'try to attract a wider audience with new money'.
"We have created a platform for wealthier Muslims outside our community to support and contribute to our mosque,"
To facilitate this transaction of digital zakat fitrah, Ramadhan Mosque has cooperated with start-up in related field named Combo Innovation.

Combo Innovation itself claims to be a digital transaction company that adheres to Islamic Shari'a.

To be able to pay this digital zakat fitrah, one can do it through the mosque's website which is scanned using QR code.
Shortly after the scan, the digital money will be electronically transferred to the mosque's account.

The mosque will periodically report their income with transparency, to prevent and combat money laundering allegations.

The donation will then be charged with Pounds Sterling through digital money exchange services such as LocalBitcoin UK.

Although widely used, Bitcoin is still a debate among Muslim leaders.
Halal or not digital currency is still being studied, considering the regulation of Bitcoin system is still not well ordered.

Until now (29/05/2018) Ramadan Mosque has received zakat fitrah of Bitcoin of 2,000 Pounds Sterling or equivalent to Rp 37.3 million.

They still need at least £ 8,000 more to reach the target of mosque renovation fund.