NGF will ensure 'zakat' is only spent according to the criteria set out in the Qur'an (Chapter 9, verse 60), which stipulates the groups on which the 'zakat' can be spent.

• The poor (fuqarah)
• The needy (masakeen)
• Administrators of zakat
• Those whose hearts have been inclined (towards Islam) e.g. new Muslims
• Captives (to help free them)
• Those in debt
• For God's cause
• Travellers in need

NGF will mostly focus on the first two categories listed in Quran 9:60 the 'poor' and the 'needy':

• The 'needy' - those who may have livelihoods but due to their very low incomes do not have sufficient means to fulfill their needs and therefore still require charitable support.
• The 'poor' - those who are in a worse situation than the needy because they have little or no food, livelihood, money or possessions are therefore in severe need of charity to sustain themselves.

However, when supporting the poor and needy, 'zakat' will also primarily be used for projects that comply with the charitable objectives of NGF, which is empowering disadvantaged women and girls by improving their mental and physical health, increasing their economic opportunities through education and training and by supporting victims of violence and abuse

Providing they meet NGF's charitable objectives, other categories of people that will be helped from time to time using zakat funds will include:

• Those whose hearts have been inclined (towards Islam) e.g. new Muslims who may be isolated and estranged from family.
• Those in debt and who do not fall under the categories of poor or needy, yet they are facing stress and difficulties due to incurring debt e.g. in the UK it may mean paying utility bills or rent owed for those in severe hardship as an interim measure to prevent their situation worsening while they secure funds to sustain themselves such as domestic abuse victim waiting for benefits due to being abandoned by partner whom they may have relied on for financial support. Abroad it could mean paying debt of someone who has been trapped in slave labour. However, when using 'zakat' for debt payment is being considered, due diligence will need to be conducted to evidence the need and that alternatives have been exhausted.
• Captives – those who may be trapped in slave labour and /or are victims of trafficking where zakat could be potentially used to free them and help them rebuild their lives.
• Travellers – those in need and who may be trapped in another country, which is not their home due to an emergency. This could include refugees, although they would also be covered in the 'poor' criteria. Other examples could include an abuse victim living in the UK being taken abroad and abandoned who has no financial means of returning to the UK. However, in such cases NGF would need to be satisfied that there are no alternatives e.g. social services, police or relatives paying for the travel.
• For God's cause – this would only be considered occasionally and could include Islamic education for girls and women or their own space for worship or to promote women's rights in Islam.

NGF will use 100% of the donations directly for projects. Zakat donations will therefore not be used for NGF administration, overheads or marketing costs. As a grant making body the overhead costs for NGF will be low anyway. Although, some funding will be required for administrating and managing the grants, this will be covered by gift aid claimed from the HMRC or any other unrestricted funding provided for these purposes such by other larger grant funding foundations. Any surplus gift aid will be classified as unrestricted funds and used appropriately, which may include funding projects that receive less attention from donors.

However, as the 'poor' and 'needy' will have to be helped via local front line (primarily women-led) delivery partners, their costs will be met from 'zakat' funds, which is allowed according to the criteria stipulated in Quran, 9:60 as they are 'administrators of zakat.' This will also allow the capacity building of local people who are usually from the communities being helped. When identifying front line local delivery partners, due diligence checks will be carried out according to the 'Due Diligence Partner' policy.

The majority of the 'zakat' funds will be used to support the poor and needy outside of the UK, in developing countries. However, some of the funding will also support the poor and the needy in the UK. For example, this may include women in refuges in need of essential items or other essential support. However, this would usually be done through a partner organisation.

Nisa Global Foundation (NGF) take an inclusive approach to interpretation of Islamic texts about 'zakat' and therefore also include non-Muslims as 'zakat' recipients. NGF hopes donors will approve that this is the most ethical approach in today's context. It is encouraging to now start seeing some Islamic scholars and even charities debating the criteria for 'zakat.' We know that some Muslims may disagree with NGF's stance and therefore choose not to donate. However, it is important to be open and honest and also to get more Muslims to discuss and debate this important issue. Although NGF will predominantly provide grants in Muslim majority countries, this will be to reflect the countries of origins of the majority of its Muslim donors in Britain and because Muslim majority countries on average tend to be poorer. However, as NGF grows and its donor base increases and diversifies, it hopes to help women and girls where ever they live in the world.

When determining its inclusive approach, the NGF trustees also considered the following analysis on this topic, which others may find useful if they are unsure about their stance:

Although the overwhelming majority of classical and contemporary scholars recommend that 'zakat' should only be paid to Muslims, Quran verse 9:60 does not specifically state that the groups of people such as the poor, the needy etc., have to be Muslim. Also, there is also no authentic hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) which explicitly prohibits the distribution of 'zakat' to non-Muslims. While such rulings were understandable during the early Islamic period to ensure 'zakat' was kept within the small and growing Muslim communities, these should now be revisited and these debates are now taking place. For example, one group of people to whom zakat can be given according to verse 9:60 is 'captives' (alrriqab), who were rarely Muslims as pointed out by Al Ghazali. Also according to a well known hadith in Al Bukhari and Muslim), in instructing Mu'adh ibn Jabal (who was sent to Yemen), the Prophet (pbuh) said: It (zakat) is to be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them. This may be interpreted either to mean 'zakat' to be taken from rich Muslims be given to poor Muslims or it be taken from the rich among the local population (which included) non-Muslims and given to the poor among the local population.

Donations therefore received in these categories, will be spent according to their criteria:

• Lillah –voluntary donation which can be spent on any cause
• Zakat ul Fitr – donation made at the end of Ramadan (before the Eid al-Fitr prayer) by every self-supporting Muslim adult who has food in excess of needs. Recipients are similar to 'zakat'
• Fidya – donation made to feed a poor person for every fast missed due to necessity
• Kaffarah - – donation made to feed a poor person when fasts deliberately missed or broken without a valid reason
• Qurbani – animal slaughtered for Eid Al Adha and the meat eaten, given to friends, family and to the poor
• Aqeeqah - an animal that is slaughtered on the occasion of the birth of a child to show gratitude, which can be eaten and distributed
• Nadhr – when a person makes an oath to give to charity e.g. in return for some blessing being bestowed
• Waqf – endowment – where a trust/organisation will look after donation and distribute benefits to beneficiaries