A mosque in Oslo asks Muslims not fasting during Ramadan to pay a fee of up to 1.200 kroner – for each day they eat during daytime.
The fee, kaffareh, is 20 kroner for those who have a valid reason not to fast, ie pregnant women, nursing mothers and those who are ill. For others, the fee is 60 times as high, ie all 1,200 kroner.
The multicultural newspaper Utrop was the first who wrote about the mandate given by Imam Ali Center to pay kaffareh.
– The basis for kaffareh is that you are to give food to the hungry. If you break the fast one day, you must give 750 grams of wheat flour to the needy. If you do not have a valid reason for breaking the fast, you must give 60 times as much, Chairman Mehdi Tadayoun in Imam Ali Center on Tveita explains. Muslim scholars have stipulated the price for 750 grams of wheat flour to 20 Norwegian kroner.
Tadayoun says believers are encouraged to primarily give money directly to the needy, but the center’s account number is listed along with this request.
– It is listed in all the articles that we write. We rely on donations. If this fee is paid to us, it will be earmarked for the poor. We are not allowed to use it for daily operation. But many provide this fee privately to scholars who will use the money for charity, Tadayoun says.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
