The Nigerian state of Bauchi has created a department to collect tithes for the poor, mandated by the Sharia law under which the state is governed.
Sharia wealth tax in Nigerian state
The Sharia Commission says it received just over $23,000 (£12,000) from top civil servants and traditional leaders.
Now the commission has started drawing up a list of individuals they believe should be paying Zakat.
They have sent out letters to more than 3,000 people warning if they don't pay the tax to the government this year they could be arrested and jailed for three months, fined, or given 20 lashes.
So, using resources that are already extremely tight to establish another bureaucracy is supposed to put more of those resources in the hands of the poor?
No, it's more likely that the generals will move into nicer digs, and the poor will be even worse off as the better-off have less to share.
But, hey--it's all in the name of religious duty, right? It's all good.
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