Role of Zakat in Poverty Reduction in Kelantan, Malaysia

This study attempts to examine the effectiveness of monthly zakat distribution as a mechanism to poverty reduction in the state of Kelantan. The target population of this study is the fuqara and masakin categories of the Majlis Agama Islam Kelantan (MAIK) zakat recipients. Simple Random sampling procedure is applied to collect primary data related to zakat recipients from the poor and needy category of the ten districts of Kelantan. Poverty maps are derived based on the collected data. These facilitate an examination of the most affected area of poverty within the context of selected socio economic variables. The effects of zakat distribution on poverty are analyzed within the context of burden of poverty; specifically in terms of incidence, intensity and severity of poverty. These are examined using four major indices of poverty, which include the Headcount Index, Average Poverty Gap, Income Gap and Sen Index. The poverty incidence will be measured by using the headcount index that measures the ratio of people living below the poverty line compared to the total population. The Income Gap ratio and Poverty Gap Index will be used to measure the extent of poverty. These poverty measures give a more informative picture about how deep poverty is than the headcount index. It is obtained by multiplying the poverty headcount index by the ratio of the difference between the poverty line and the average income of the population living under the poverty line expressed as fraction of the poverty line. Finally, the Sen Index is used to measure the severity of poverty because it provides adequate information on the exact income distribution among the poor. Sen Index incorporates all the information on the number of poor, the extent of poverty short-fall per person and the income distribution among the poor as well. The analysis reveals that zakat distribution reduces poverty incidence, reduces the extent of poverty and lessens the severity of poverty. However, the current practice of zakat distribution in Kelantan only gives a small effect on increasing the income of the poor. Hence, by locating the perfect amount of zakat distribution to eliminate poverty and to offer alternative zakat distribution model is the best way in reducing the income inequality and maximization of social welfare. The best model of zakat distribution identified is based on had-kifayah. The above findings together with the identification of the group most affected by income inequality and poverty will pave the way towards policies for a more effective and efficient utilization of scarce zakat resources

Determination of poverty among the poor and needy in a developing country / Ahmad Fahme Mohd Ali and Mohd Faisol Ibrahim.

This article attempts to analyse the determination of poverty among the poor and needy of the zakat recipients in Kelantan, Malaysia. The study is motivated from the Kelantan zakat collection (2003-2015) that suggests that the growth alone (high collection) is not enough to eliminate poverty, there are indeed, other elements of poverty eradication like the socio economic, demographic factors, remittances and the investments in social and economic factors like the food subsidy for the poorest, good quality education, opportunities for the most needy, regulation of job markets, and purposively designed social security nets also have significant impact on permanent reduction in poverty. In Kelantan, despite zakat centres having disbursed an increasing amount of expenditure annually on the two categories of zakat recipients, hitherto the number of fuqara (poor) and masakin (needy) households is still increasing (MAIK, 2014; JAWHAR, 2012). Thus, it is important to understand the nature and scale of poverty, the various driving forces that affect it and the determinants of poverty among the poor and needy as linked to this process. A sample of 505 households from 2016 Household Expenditure Survey (HES) among the poor and needy zakat recipients in Kelantan has been used in this study. The findings have important policy implications for Kelantan Zakat Department (MAIK) in making the zakat distribution becomes more efficient and uplift the important role of zakat as one of the poverty alleviation tools among the Muslims. This study recommends the method of zakat distribution should be improved and channelled accordingly in order to strengthen the Muslims economy condition and then, it would facilitate the poverty alleviation programmes by the zakat department

Modeling the impact of corporate social responsibility on sustainable purchase intentions: insights into brand trust and brand loyalty

Green innovation performance deals with the strengthening of the organizations for their competence in enhancement of their green image. Current research examines the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in improving sustainable purchase intentions. In addition, it explores the mediating roles of brand trust and brand loyalty. It also reveals that how CSR is crucial for green innovation performance in Pakistan. This research uses the structural equation model (SEM) analysis technique to investigate the linkage between constructs in the complex research model. This uses a self-administrated survey-based questionnaire and a convenience sampling technique for data collection. The unit of analysis is buyers from textile and clothing brands consisting 373 respondents. The findings revealed that corporate social responsibility had a beneficial impact on Pakistani purchasers’ long-term purchase intentions. Green innovation performance can also be improved by improving CSR. The link between CSR, sustainable buying intentions, and green innovation technology is partially mediated by brand loyalty. Brand trust was identified as a possible link between CSR and brand loyalty. Brand trust and loyalty, interestingly, modulate the link between CSR and sustainable purchase intentions as well as CSR and green innovation performance in a sequential manner. The article’s findings will be useful for academics, specialists, and policymakers as these provide glimpse into textile, clothing, and fashion brands with a focus on CSR to improve green innovation performance, as well as highlighting the most relevant studies on the topic and showcasing trends in research and gaps in the field

Critical motivation factors among project managers to achieve successful project in Malaysian construction industry / Farhan Md Dahlan ... [et al.]

Motivation is inspiration that moves behavior and guide individuals to achieve desired goals. Motivation is very important especially to the project managers to ensure the commitment and interest towards job as well as professionalism and disciplined. Therefore, research has been conducted to identify the critical motivation factors among project managers to achieve successful sustainability growth in Malaysian construction industry. This research was started out by reviewing literature from journals, books and web pages. Surveys using questionnaires forms were carried out to project managers from G7 contractors firms‟ in Klang Valley. Analysis using descriptive analysis reveals that the critical motivation factors are responsibility, manager competency, compensation or rewards and salary, employee development, appreciation and recognition, personal development, empowerment, interpersonal interaction, task, general working condition, mental and physical strength and ability of the project managers to use project management technique for process planning. This paper provides an insight for critical motivation factors among project managers from G7 contractors firm to successfully sustain the growth of construction industry. Although the research was carried out in Klang Valley, the results may be applicable to other states as well

A REVIEW ON LITERATURES OF ZAKAT BETWEEN 2003-2013

The objective of this article is to analysis the related literatures on zakat between 2003 until 2013. The methodology of this article is through descriptive research based on document-analysis on previous articles and literatures on zakat between 2003 until 2013. Data from each articles related in this field were collected and statistically analyzed using the Statistical Product & Service Solution (SPSS) software. This study looked at several variables which include authorship patterns, number of articles published, research approach, subject and gender of the author. The general finding of this article shows that the zakat issues are among the most discussed issues among the Muslims scholars as well as the economic researchers due to the porpoise of zakat is among the method in reducing and eliminating poverty. Henceforth, this article provides significant suggestions and strategies for the future exploration on zakat

WAQF AS A MEDIUM FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW ON LITERATURE FROM 2010 TO 2020

Nowadays, the application of Waqf in community has become more widespread as a source of community development. The objective of this article is to analyse and examine the related literatures on Waqf towards community development from 2010 to 2020. Descriptive research is employed as the methodology of this article based on a number of literatures on Waqf and community development within a ten-year duration. Exactly 100 articles were gathered from on World of Science (WoS), Scopus, Google Scholar, and Mendeley software using specific keywords, namely “Waqf and Community Development,” “Waqf and Economic Development,” and “Waqf + Community Development.” The selected articles were subsequently analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software. This study discovered several variables such as the number of publications by year, the number of authors, the subject area of articles, the methodology used, publications based on country, and classification of publications used by the respective researchers. The results showed that most of the previous studies which have discussed Waqf towards community development are more on managerial aspects, suggesting that wider areas need to be explored and discussed

Estimating expenditure pattern and permanent income hypothesis : evidence from Kelantan Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumption function among households in Kelantan Malaysia based on the Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH). This study used secondary data obtained from annual reports, as well as from published and non-published data between 2000 and 2016. The ARDL bound testing approach to deal with cointegration was applied to estimate the long run correlation between the variables. Meanwhile, the error correction method (ECM) was used to determine any short run correlation. This study found a large disparity between the elasticity to consume from current income and the elasticity to consume from permanent income among households in Kelantan. Therefore, it can be concluded that in the case of Kelantan, the PIH is valid

DETERMINANT FACTORS EFFECTING POVERTY AMONG NEW CONVERTS IN SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

The justice in Islam had attracted and opens the hearts of non-muslins to accept Islam. The justice and truthfulness of Islamic teaching attract the human to be part of its through conversion or reconciliation of hearts (Muallaf al-Qulub) and it is one of the zakat recipients mentioned in Al-Qur’an. In Selangor, zakat assistance to the new converts begins from the first day they become Muslims. The new Muslim would be immediately helped with MYR 500.00 monthly allowance for five years until they manage to act in accordance with Allah’s orders and to perform worshipping (Mukallaf). This paper identifies the factors of new converts’ poverty in Selangor, Malaysia using a logistic regression method. A set of survey questionnaires has been used in this research and 80 respondents were randomly selected from Selangor Zakat Centre (SZC) zakat recipient’s list from the New Converts category for nine districts of Selangor in 2013. We estimate the probability of households with specified characteristics to fall below Malaysia’s official poverty line. Results show that education, size, region, income and amount of zakat received significantly reduces the chance of being poor while gender, age, status were not a significant predictor. Thus, these statistical measures have proven the positive role of zakat in reducing poverty among the new converts. The findings have important policy implications for zakat institution and Malaysian government which has pledged to reduce overall poverty rate to 2.8 percent and eradicates hardcore poverty by 2010 under the Ninth Malaysian Plan. =========================================== Keadilan dalam Islam telah menarik perhatian dan membuka hati non-muslim untuk menerima Islam. Keadilan dan kejujuran dalam ajaran Islam menarik banyak untuk masuk dalam Islam (Muallaf al-Qulub) dan mereka menjadi salah satu penerima zakat seperti disebutkan dalam Al Qur'an. Di Selangor, bantuan zakat kepada para muallaf dimulai pada hari pertama mereka menjadi umat Islam. Mualaf tersebut akan diberi uang saku sebesar MYR 500.00 per bulan selama 5 tahun sampai mereka mampu mengelola kehidupannya sesuai dengan perintah Allah dan melaksanakan ibadahnya (Mukallaf). Paper ini mengidentifikasikan faktor-faktor kemiskinan mualaf di Selangor, Malaysia dengan menggunakan metode regresi logistic. Seperangkat kuesioner digunakan untuk penelitian ini dan 80 responden dipilih secara acak dari daftar para penerima zakat Selangor Zakat Centre (SZC) untuk kategori mualaf dari sembilan distrik di Selangor untuk tahun 2013. Kami memperkirakan probabilitas rumah tangga rumah tangga dengan karakteristik dimaksud mengalami penurunan di bawah angka kemiskinan resmi Malaysia. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa pendidikan, ukuran, wilayah, pendapatan dan jumlah zakat yang diterima secara signifikan mengurangi kemiskinan sementara faktor gender, umur, dan status bukanlah faktor yang signifikan. Oleh karena itu, hasil perhitungan statistik membuktikan bahwa zakat berperan positif dalam mengurangi kemiskinan para mualaf tersebut. Temuan ini mempunyai implikasi penting terhadap kebijakan institusi zakat dan juga pemerintah Malaysia telah bertekad untuk mengurangi angka kemiskinan Malaysia menjadi 2.8 persen dan mengurangi kemiskinan ekstrim per tahun 2010 berdasarkan Ninth Malaysian Plan