The International Zakat Organisation is joining forces with the BMB Group, a

Brunei-parented alternative asset manager, to establish and co-manage a global zakat and charity fund. Zakat is the Islamic principle of giving a percentage of one's income to charity.

The proposed fund will manage zakat and other charitable funds to alleviate poverty in the members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the inter-governmental organisation of which all Muslim countries are members and a sponsor of IZO, set up on an initiative by

Malaysia.

The fund will invest in community development projects with an emphasis on sustainability. The three major areas to be targeted are income generation through the provision of affordable financing to small and medium enterprises; development of social enterprise through the establishment of hospitals, educational institutions and housing associations; and the provision of relief and emergency funding. The expected size of the fund is two billion Malaysian ringgit (about $550 million) in the current calendar year.