Zakat, or alms tax, is one of the major religious duties of Muslims, who must give a certain portion of their income to orphans, the poor and other deserving recipients. Some of these donations, channelled through Muslim charities in other countries, are known to be diverted to support insurgents and international terrorists. Although it is suspected that some Muslim charitable organisations may have been used to finance insurgency and terrorism in the deep South, the government has never taken any action against them.

At present, Thai and international Muslim charitable organisations give their money directly to administrators of mosques and religious schools. There is virtually no way of monitoring how these funds are spent, but the new law will change that. The idea has been a long time coming. The draft legislation is being prepared by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry and will be submitted to the Cabinet in the next few weeks.

When the Zakat Funds Bill becomes law, a new government administrative body will be created to facilitate and monitor Muslim charities, which will be registered as juristic persons. All provincial- and community-level zakat funds, as well as donations taken by mosques, will be required to register as juristic persons and will be subject to official scrutiny. The Zakat Funds Administrative Office will take in donations from Thai Muslims and international Muslim charities as well as government funds for Muslim community development and development grants from non-Muslim organisations. These funds will be administered separately. With substantial seed money from the government, the Zakat Funds are expected to grow over time to provide constant financial support to Muslim individuals, communities, religious schools and mosques that need help.The Fund's office will be chaired by the Chularajamontree, the country's highest Muslim leader.

According to the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, the zakat funds are considered a very effective way to target the poor and the destitute in Muslim communities in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, which all lag far behind the rest of the country in terms of standard of living and economic prospects. The latest-available statistics suggest that the per capita income in the predominantly-Muslim provinces is about Bt40,000 a year, which is less than half of the national average of Bt81,000.

Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat are listed among the bottom 10 poorest provinces. The low level of development can be attributed to decades of neglect by successive governments, in some cases due to prejudice. The current government is now paying much more attention to the region in the hope that once people's living conditions improve, support for Islamic militants/Malay separatists will wane.

The ministry says that by improving the way the zakat funds are managed, the government hopes to better identify Muslims in need of assistance, strengthen Muslim communities and raise people's quality of life, as well as contribute toward the government's effort to end the insurgency and restore peace to the strife-torn region.

Well-intentioned as the idea may be, there might be some problems stemming from apparent religious insensitivity or ignorance. Anyone with some rudimentary understanding of Islam should know that zakat - which is comparable to Christians' tithe and Buddhists' dana - is supposed to be raised by Muslims for Muslims. No one is supposed to raise or administer zakat on behalf of a Muslim, who has a duty to God to give charitably. To begin with, the ministry should consider naming the funds to be raised by the government and non-Muslim donors to help Muslims as anything other than zakat funds. Good intentions are not enough; the government must provide support for Muslim communities with great sensitivity.