Every Ramadan, millions of Muslims around the world ask the same question: Where should my zakat go?

Islamic scholarship offers clear guidance. Among the eight categories of zakat recipients defined in Surah At-Tawbah (9:60), refugees commonly fall under four: the poor (al-fuqara), the needy (al-masakin), the debtors (al-gharimeen), and wayfarers (ibn al-sabil). Displaced from their homes and stripped of stable income, many refugees meet the criteria for all four categories at once.

Across Africa, the scale of need is immense. Today, the continent hosts over 45 million refugees and forcibly displaced people, many living in displacement for years –  sometimes decades. In countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, conflict and climate-related crises continue to uproot entire communities.

Behind every statistic is a human story.

Behind every statistic is a family. A mother stretching a single meal across a day. A young person who had to leave school behind. An entrepreneur whose business was destroyed overnight. These are people who had lives, plans, and futures before displacement changed everything.

Your zakat can reach them.

Through UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund, your zakat can reach families like these directly. The Fund is a Sharia-compliant distribution mechanism managed by UNHCR and endorsed by 17 leading fatwa institutions and Islamic scholars worldwide

Whether you are giving zakat for the first time or looking for a cause you can trust, this is where your contribution makes a direct, measurable difference.

Give your zakat today and put it where it is needed most.