Zakat institution approaches in managing zakat collection

Malaysian government had taken proactive action by establishing legislation and well-structured organization of zakat institutions to administer zakat management in Malaysia. Zakat institutions play a role in providing guidelines and explanations on the importance of zakat to strengthen the conscience of the Muslims. Zakat administration is important as a way to ensure zakat collection and distribution are conducted effectively. Above all, zakat institutions rely on the collection of zakat fund from zakat payers. The fund received from the zakat payers will be distributed to eights groups of zakat recipients [known as asnaf] with the purpose of improving economic hardship of these group members. Therefore, zakat collections should be managed efficiently as it can positively affect the socio-economic of asnaf. The main objective of this paper is to identify the approaches used by zakat institution in managing zakat collection. The paper focuses on zakat institution in Kelantan. The Islamic Religious Council of Kelantan which is known as MAIK [Majlis Agama Islam Kelantan] is the first Islamic Religious Council established in Malaysia and thus, is expected to be an appropriate reference of zakat institution in managing zakat collection. Since the effectiveness of zakat institutions is highly dependent on zakat payers’ support, implementation of various strategies should be implemented by zakat institutions to promote sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency within the zakat institutions. This study highlights various zakat collection strategies adopted by MAIK as a way to attract zakat payers to channel their funds. Finally, it provides insight for researchers and policy makers on the roles and functions of MAIK in managing the collection of zakat.