Is zakat fund collected investible?
Zakat being the fifth pillar of Islam tends to be discussed among the Muslims from the general collection and distribution aspects. The collection and disbursement functions of zakat appear to be straight forward cases. As with any funds, the zakat fund will naturally accumulate as a result of pay...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/22678/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22678/1/Is_Zakat_Fund_Collected_Investible.pdf |
| Summary: | Zakat being the fifth pillar of Islam tends to be discussed among the Muslims from the general
collection and distribution aspects. The collection and disbursement functions of zakat appear to be
straight forward cases. As with any funds, the zakat fund will naturally accumulate as a result of payments
from eligible Muslims, and after disbursement, the fund should naturally decline. If the function of zakat
is receipts and disbursements, then increases due to hibah from the financial institution with which the
fund is maintained will only be incidental, and perhaps, unavoidable. There is one immediate and practical issue that will confront the management of zakat collection and disbursement. Should the surplus
fund be left idle, or invested to further increase wealth? The answers may be referred to in authoritative
literature. There are two objectives of the study: (1) to give guidelines on the issue of investability of
zakat fund based on the views of the proponents and opponents from among the ulama’ (Muslim and
Islamic religious scholars) in the literature. The study obtained views from Islamic jurisprudence tertiary
students (n=33) about the issue through a short survey. The results indicated that while majority of
respondents agreed to allow zakat surplus to be invested for the benefits of the zakat recipients; some
respondents insisted zakat fund, must be distributed to zakat qualified recipients only, regardless of the
benefits and advantages. They worried that the zakat authority could not follow the conditions when it
investing zakat surplus. For future research, the study suggests to interview contemporary Muslim
scholars and zakat practitioners to search for alternatives for zakat surplus investment. |
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