Zakat Councils are responsible for collecting and distributing the Islamic taxes known as Zakat and Ushr in Pakistan. The Councils are overseen by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In Pakistan, the system of compulsory collection and distribution of Zakat and Ushr began in 1980[1] with an ordinance decreed by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq calling for a 2.5% annual deduction from personal bank accounts on the first day of Ramadan, with the revenue to be used for poverty relief.[2][3]