Zakat Administration and Poverty Alleviation in Kano State: An Assessment of the Zakat and Hubusi Commission

Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is both a religious obligation and a redistributive mechanism with significant potential for poverty reduction in Muslim-majority communities. In Kano State, the Zakat and Hubusi Commission was established to formalise zakat collection and disbursement, yet the effectiveness of this institution in achieving measurable poverty alleviation outcomes remains understudied. This study assesses the administrative structure, collection mechanisms, and distributional effectiveness of the Kano State Zakat and Hubusi Commission from 2013 to 2023. A descriptive survey methodology is applied, combining document review of commission annual reports and financial statements with questionnaire surveys administered to 240 beneficiaries and 30 commission officials across three local government areas in Kano State. The study examines compliance with classical Fiqh standards for zakat eligibility, distribution ratios, and accountability obligations. Available literature on institutionalised zakat in northern Nigeria identifies disbursement inefficiencies, corruption risks, and limited beneficiary targeting accuracy as recurring challenges. The Maqasid al-Shariah (objectives of Islamic law) framework guides the normative evaluation of the commission's performance. Findings are expected to reveal misalignment between the commission's formal mandate and actual distributional outcomes. Recommendations address accountability structures, electronic collection systems, beneficiary verification protocols, and integration of zakat management with state poverty reduction programmes. Keywords: Zakat administration, poverty alleviation, Kano State, Zakat Commission, Maqasid al-Shariah.