Zakat In Malaysian rural development: issues and potentials
The earning power for sustenance and non-sustenance of the rural poorest and poor has been ignored in existing programmes for alleviating rural poverty because the funding used is oriented to the capitalist ideology. Zakat is a different system based on existing funding to provide sustenance and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Art University of Iran and International islamic University of malaysia
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/34371/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/34371/1/Binder1.pdf |
| Summary: | The earning power for sustenance and non-sustenance of the rural poorest and poor has been
ignored in existing programmes for alleviating rural poverty because the funding used is
oriented to the capitalist ideology. Zakat is a different system based on existing funding to
provide sustenance and non-sustenance to the poorest, who are eligible to receive zakat as long
as they are classified as faqir or miskin. In Malaysia, the federal government has been unable to
use zakat for poverty alleviation at the national level because the administration of this tax is the
responsibility of individual states. Although efforts have been made to centralize the
administration of zakat for the benefit of poor states, the idea has been rejected by most states.
One of those most resistant to centralization has been Kedah. Kedah is one of the poor states in
Malaysia, where the majority are Malays (Muslim) and whose occupations are mostly in poor
sectors of the economy, particularly padi and rubber. The effectiveness of poverty alleviation
also depends on a sufficient amount of zakat collected. The centralization of zakat collection to
the Kedah Department of Zakat (KDoZ) headquarters, however, has been of benefit to the poor
districts. |
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