Governing Zakat as a social institution : the Malaysian perspective / Shawal Kaslam

Kaslam, Shawal (2009) Governing Zakat as a social institution : the Malaysian perspective / Shawal Kaslam. Social and Management Research Journal (SMRJ), 6 (1). pp. 15-32. ISSN 1675-7017

Abstract

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and is an ibadah that should be performed by every individual Muslims. A person’s iman is incomplete unless he has performed all the pillars of Islam and a person should not place less importance on any of the pillars. As the Quran says that, it is an obligation of every Muslim, man or woman to give a specific amount of their wealth (as neither ordinary
charity nor voluntary alms-giving) – with certain conditions and requirements – to be given to certain categories of people as an ‘equitable redistribution of
wealth and income (Quran Surah 9: 71).1 The fundamental principles of Zakat is that zakat is to be established in the fold of Muslim society in an organized manner and under the responsible supervision of the Muslim Government, or
of a special Muslim supervisory body appointed by the said Government. The practical functioning of the institution of Zakat must be kept in the highest plane of integrity, courtesy, and loyalty to the Muslim Nation. In this sense,
Zakat is more than a personal ibadah; it is also a social institution, which play a pivotal role in socio-economic well-being/affairs of the Muslim Ummah. Zakat has been functioning as an instrument of relieving poverty among the
Muslim Ummah and keeping its sanity inspite of its present decadence. This paper examines the practice and implementation of Zakat as a social institution in Malaysia, and its governance in achieving the Muslim socio-economic welfare and well-being. For this analysis, the Selangor Zakat Authority (LZS-MAIS) is selected to present an example of governing zakat as a social institution in Malaysia.

Metadata

Item Type: Article
Creators:
Creators
Email / ID Num.
Kaslam, Shawal
shawalk@melaka.uitm.edu.my
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc > Islam > The practice of Islam > The five duties of a Moslem. Pillars of Islam
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology > Social institutions
Divisions: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam > Research Management Centre (RMC)
Journal or Publication Title: Social and Management Research Journal (SMRJ)
UiTM Journal Collections: UiTM Journal > Social and Management Research Journal (SMRJ)
ISSN: 1675-7017
Volume: 6
Number: 1
Page Range: pp. 15-32
Keywords: Zakat, governance, social institution
Date: 2009
URI: https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13069
Edit Item
Edit Item

Download

[thumbnail of AJ_SYAWAL KASLAM SMRJ 09 1.pdf] Text
AJ_SYAWAL KASLAM SMRJ 09 1.pdf

Download (6MB)

ID Number

13069

Indexing

Statistic

Statistic details