Zahid: I am persecuted over my charity work

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has testified today that more than RM109 million of Yayasan Akalbudi funds have been utilised for both Islamic and general charity work.

The former deputy prime minister told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that this is because not all contributions were recorded, which is in accordance with the Islamic principle of “the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing”.

According to an Islamic hadith, Prophet Muhammad said, among others, that “a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembers Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears”.

The prophet’s saying is meant to highlight the importance of being discreet when performing a good deed with noble intentions, such as charity.