Under pretext of “collecting Zakat money” | “General Authority of Zakat” employees force civilians to pay levies and taxes imposed by HTS
As Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) continues to clamp down on civilians in areas under its control, the so-called “General Authority of Zakat” has forced farmers, merchants, craftsmen, shop owners and small entrepreneurs to pay levies and taxes under the pretext of “collecting zakat money,” disregarding the dire living conditions of the region’s residents who have already been grappling with soaring prices and lack of humanitarian assistance.
It is worth noting that the “General Authority of Zakat” was established in Idlib in early 2019 where it was affiliated to the “Ministry of Awqaf” of the “Salvation Government.” The institution has later announced splitting from the government, where it has become an independent institution that is not affiliated to any civil, military or political formations in the region, as it claims. This body, which operates in most of HTS-held areas, works on persecuting shop owners, farmers and craftsmen with the aim of forcing them to pay taxes. Taxes in HTS-controlled areas are divided into monthly and yearly ones, while farmers have to pay their taxes at the end of the harvest seasons.
Many merchants, farmers and craftsmen in HTS-held areas have complained of being forced by the “General Authority of Zakat” to pay these taxes under the pretext of “collecting zakat money.” Moreover, they complained of the mistreatment by the authority’s employees tasked with collecting the taxes. These civilians have wondered about the fate of these large sums of money, the mechanism of spending them and whether they are used to support projects serving the region or not, as well as the level of the General Authority of Zakat’s transparency and reliability when it comes to distribute a share of this money to poor families, as it claims.
According to reliable SOHR sources, the sums of money collected every month from merchants, owners of companies and shops, craftsmen and farmers in Idlib under taxes and levies are estimated to be tens of thousands of US dollars. This money is used to support relief projects, specific categories and special cases, such as providing financial supports to injured people, individuals with special needs, poor families with no breadwinners and university students who do not afford tuition payments.
SOHR sources have also confirmed that a part of this money is distributed to HTS members stationed on frontlines with the Syrian regime, where each fighter receives some 1,000 to 1,500 TL in different times, in addition to their salaries. Another part of the money is distributed to poor families under specific conditions, such as families that are not able to pay rent of houses they live in and families of “martyrs” that contain children who have no breadwinners.
According to Observatory sources, the “General Authority of Zakat” allows families deserving the so-called “crops zakat,” such as the “zakat of olive harvest,” to choose between money and an equal amount of oil or fruit. On the other hand, the authority’s staff conduct tours in residential areas and refugee camps to provide assistance. The authority documents such activities by video clips and pictures showing employees distributing assistance to the poor and posts them on its Facebook page with the aim of showing transparency and proving that all money taken under taxes is distributed to affected families and individuals in Idlib city and countryside in north-west Syria.
Speaking to SOHR, an activist known by his initials as A. A. from the northern countryside of Idlib says, “the so-called ‘General Authority of Zakat’ is one of HTS’s wings in the region, and it is tasked with collecting taxes from farmers, merchants and craftsmen. The money which this body collects is a major resource for HTS, where the authority publishes yearly statistics of the amount of money it collects, which reaches hundreds of thousands of US dollars. Despite attempts of the ‘General Authority of Zakat’ to show transparency when transporting money from the ‘rich’ to the ‘poor,’ as it describes, which aims at reaching a balance of the living conditions of the region’s people and supporting ‘fragile segments,’ such as individuals with special needs, the largest portion of this money is used for funding military activities, reinforcing troops on frontlines, buying and manufacturing weapons and paying fighters’ salaries. The assistance which is distributed to the needy and posted on media is a very small portion of the taxes’ money.”
The activist does not rule out the fact that large shares of the taxes’ money are granted to senior commanders of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham or establishing investment projects, which are owned by civilians to cover up such activities. Already, there are many projects known for belonging to Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham in north and west Idlib countryside, including restaurants, pools, stadiums, coffee shops and petrol stations, according to the activist.
The activist has also pointed out to the mistreatment by the authority’s employees with civilians, which has been obvious when they were collecting the “wheat zakat” during the latest seasons. The man says, “the authority’s employees escorted harvesters and waited until the end of harvesting all crops, before they collected taxes. On the other hand, a state of discontent prevails among civilians during every season of olive harvest, where the authority’s employees and members of the ‘General Security Service’ are deployed at the doors of olive pressers. Not to mention the employees’ ignorance of the quorum of zakat identified by the Islamic law.”
Commenting on strict measures and harassment by the employees of the “General Authority of Zakat” a farmer known as H. M. from Sahl Al-Rouj area in the western countryside of Hama has told SOHR, “with the beginning of latest season of harvesting wheat, teams of the ‘General Authority of Zakat’ headed to farmlands planted with wheat and escorted the harvesters until the end of harvesting all crops in order to take five to ten percent of the total crops. The employees deliberately show seriousness, avoid talking to the farmers and treat them roughly in order not to give the farmers a chance to express their rejection of paying the taxes, although farmers in Syria comply with paying zakat which is one of the Islam’s five pillars. However, the way which the authority’s employees deals with farmers is immoral, and disputes and verbal altercations took place between the employees and farmers on several occasions during the season of wheat harvest. I think that some employees have been appointed with the help of prominent figures, in light of the rampant nepotism in the region, as many know nothing about the quorum of zakat which must be paid according to the Islamic law. These employees have told farmers to pay their zakat at the headquarters of ‘General Authority of Zakat,’ as they could not identify the right quorum of zakat. In addition, the employees have threatened to confiscate crops of farmers who pay zakat to other bodies.”
On the other hand, some poor families and civilians have refused to take money and assistance provided by the “General Authority of Zakat,” as they have come to know that the money of zakat has been collected by the authority from civilians by force. In this context, a young man known by his initials as S. M. from the western countryside of Hama and living ina village in Jisr Al-Shughour area in the western countryside of Hama told SOHR, “last year, 2021, I refused to take a 20-litre tin of olive oil provided by the ‘General Authority of Zakat,’ as assistance, although I have seven children and suffer from extreme poverty. After collecting the ‘zakat of olive harvest’ from civilians at that time, teams of the authority started to distribute amounts of olive oil to families which were struggling with dire living conditions. However, when the authority’s employees came to my house to deliver an olive oil tin, I refused to take it and claimed that I did not need assistance.” S. M. has refused to accept any assistance provided by the “General Authority of Zakat,” as he sees that the authority takes money from merchants and farmers by force and against their will, and this violates all moral values, as he describes.
It is worth noting that living conditions are deteriorating rapidly in Idlib city and countryside, especially areas under the control of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham in light of the lack of job opportunities and humanitarian assistance, noticeable soaring prices of essentials and failure of relevant authorities to improve the living conditions of the region’s residents. Many civilians and activists attribute this failure to the predominance of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham on all economic resources in the region, imposition of taxes and adopting monopoly policy which have exacerbated the situation further.