Islamic Strategies for Poverty Alleviation: A Lee Way for Muslim Ummah (Community) in Idah Local Government Area, Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Poverty is a global problem. It affects the human person differently of which Idah LGA, Kogi State is not left out. Idah Local Government houses the ancient town of the Igala people. It is probably the oldest town and cultural centre of the Igala land. Despite the abundant opportunities for wealth creation, the local government is still facing an increased poverty rate. This poverty rate is apparent with the increased number of beggars in the town and poor educational, health, and modern water facilities in the area. This has led beggars’ population to soar in a town where the majority of the population is of Islam. These beggars are seen around Mosques, market squares, busy road junctions and hospitals. Despite the fact that Idah is blessed with arable lands for agriculture, the River Niger and Benue banks etcetera, which could help in alleviating the people’s suffering through trading and merchandising, the reverse is the case as poverty remains a fact in the area. This paper analyses the effort of Islam in reducing poverty in Idah, and adopted mainly an analysis of relevant texts of the Quran as its method of data collection. Observation supplements the analysis of these texts as a form of data collection for the study. Findings of the study show that Islamic insistence on exemplary leadership, teaching that the rich should assist the poor, prayer and the practice of zakat and the establishment of waqf(endowment) will go a long way in addressing poverty in the area.