Far bigger than it looks
It was nine o'clock last Tuesday and Nurul Islam was waiting for Gausia wholesale market in Narayanganj to open. Owner of Bismillah Clothes Store in Fatullah in Narayanganj, the retailer was there to buy a good collection of clothes in wholesale for his shop.
With the Eid-ul-Fitr in just a week, the trader was expecting a large number of customers to turn up at his shop to buy zakat clothes. He bought 50 pieces of sari, as many sets of salwar-kameez and a good number of lungi.
Zakat makes up one of the five pillars of Islam. Every solvent Muslim requires giving 2.5 percent of their wealth to those in need.
The exact amount spent in Bangladesh for zakat is hard to estimate as most people like to give it to their deserving relatives. Even if they deposit money with the zakat fund, they would not give the total amount to a particular organisation.
Last year, people deposited Tk 1.71 crore with the zakat fund, said Khizir Hayat Khan, director of the Department of Zakat Fund at Islamic Foundation Bangladesh.
“People like to give zakat during Ramadan as they believe helping people in the holy month is more acceptable to Allah,” he noted.
Well-off people spend nearly $2 billion annually to hand out lungi, sari and food items to the poor in order to meet their religious obligations, according to an estimate. Nearly 90 percent zakat is paid during the holy month of Ramadan.
Traders like Islam do not want any shopper to slip away, as they buy in huge quantity.
Islam hopes to sell clothing items worth Tk 5,000 to Tk 7,000 a day, which normally rakes in Tk 2,000.
For small traders like Islam, wholesale markets such as Gausia in Narayanganj and Baburhat in Narsingdi are good options to buy items at lower rates.
Traditionally, sari and lungi are made at small weaving mills in Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Pabna, Tangail and Sirajganj.
As the eid festival is approaching fast, the two wholesale markets are now abuzz with hundreds of retailers, who come from all over the country to purchase different items. They together handle more than 50 percent sales of total zakat shopping in the country.
Sultan Mahmud, proprietor of Lux Print Sari at Gausia, says traders particularly from Dhaka's Mirpur area, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Sirajganj, Kushtia, and Khulna and Barisal divisions come to buy the low-priced items.
Sari is sold at Tk 250 to Tk 450 a piece at wholesale rates at these two markets. Traders of the markets say zakat sales get momentum after 15th of Ramadan.
With the higher rush of customers ahead of eid, Mahmud expects to sell clothing items worth Tk 15 lakh to Tk 20 lakh at his three stores at Gausia, Baburhat and Karatia in Tangail.
Although the demand for low-cost clothing items has gone up, prices have not increased as the price of their main raw material yarn has remained stable at factory level, says Mahmud.
Akter Hossain, a local trader, says he sells 5,000 pieces of scarfs every week at Gausia market. He is also enjoying the eid sale bonanza because of the rush of customers.
“Every day we sell 4,000 to 5,000 pieces of sari,” says Muktadir Al Momin, a salesperson at Niha Print Sari at Baburhat.
Saiful Islam who owns Hafsa Lungi store in Gausia adds his business witnessed a dull season due to recent political turmoil as customers from across the country could not visit his store. Moreover, the sale is low again now due to continuous rainfall.
He says the demand for lungi has declined significantly due to change in fashion, especially among the young people, who prefer trousers and pants.
Islam now sells 1,200 to 1,500 pieces of lungi a day and expects a high turnout of customers ahead of eid.
Mamun Hossain, who came from Sonargaon to Gausia and bought 10 pieces of sari and lungi each to distribute among the poor as zakaat, said prices of these items were comparatively high this year.
“During Ramadan last year I bought sari at Tk 300 per piece. This year the same sari is Tk 320 per piece. So, prices are a little higher this year,” he said.
“Every year I buy sari and lungi for zakaat from this market due to lower prices and for availability of these items,” he observes.
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