Zakat management not yet effective - The potential of wealth-related zakat in Indonesia hits Rp 285 trillion

The high potential for zakat payments in Indonesia has not been met with commensurate management practices. There is no integrated collection of zakat yet, so its distribution is scattered as well. Consequently, its goal to eliminate poverty and empower the people has not been achieved.

Ina Primiana Syinar, a professor of economics at Bandung-based Padjadjaran University, said the management of zakat was ineffective. Aside from the fact that collection was not managed in an integrated way, the distribution sometimes missed the target.

In fact, if it were managed properly, zakat could be a way to eliminate poverty and strengthen the economy and people's purchasing power. "However, in reality, zakat has not been evenly distributed, there are people who have no access to zakat," Ina said in Bandung, West Java, on Sunday (3/7).

National Zakat and Zakat Collectors Agency (Baznas) director Arifin Purwakananta said the potential of zakat fitrah (the giving of alms at the end of the fasting month Ramadhan) in 2016 hit Rp 700 trillion. That figure is based on nearly 200 million Muslims paying zakat of Rp 35,000 per person. But, the collection and distribution of the zakat is commonly carried out by local committees in their own neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the potential of zakat maal or wealth-based zakat in Indonesia in 2016 is estimated at Rp 285 trillion. That amount of money is to be collected through around 500 zakat collector agencies in 34 provinces across Indonesia. As of today, the zakat maal collected by Baznas is around Rp 4 trillion.

Arifin said that since 2016, the zakat distribution strategy was based on three main aspects, namely social, economic and advocacy-related. The zakat collected within a year is used to fund social programs.

Sustainable programs include providing rice seeds to farmers to boost their crops, giving scholarships to students from poor families and running charity health clinics. Zakat funds are also used to fulfill the basic rights of people from the lower economic class.

This year, Baznas is targeting to reduce the number of poor people in Indonesia by 1 percent or 280,000 people. The number of poor people is reduced through various programs based on productivity improvement.

Self managed

The management board of the An-Nur Mosque in Petamburan, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, has decided not to distribute the wealth-related zakat, or zakat maal, and the zakat fitrah collected from Muslims through zakat collector agencies (amil), but instead give it directly to poor people (duafa) around the mosque.

An-Nur Mosque chairman Muhammad said the decision to give the zakat directly to the poor was made because the amount of zakat to be collected was quite low. Besides, it followed the principle to give the zakat to the people closest to the mosque or to relatives and neighbors before giving it to people in the wider area.

Muhammad said if the zakat was distributed through the zakat collector agencies, it would be distributed to people further away. "That means the poor people near the An-Nur Mosque will not receive the zakat," he said.

As of last Saturday, the zakat maal collected at the An-Nur Mosque stood at around Rp 10 million. According to the plan, the zakat maal and the zakat fitrah will be distributed to around 600 people, who would each receive 3.5 liters of rice and Rp 20,000. Last year, each person received Rp 15,000.

Nukman, 69, a resident of Pancoran, South Jakarta, chose to pay the zakat maal at a mosque near his house because he wanted to share his fortune with the neighbors. He said he preferred for the zakat to be given to his neighbors, although he knew from his child that there was a zakat-sharing smartphone app. "I give the zakat directly to my neighbors, so that they can receive the zakat two or more times," he added.

 

source Kompas, Sunday, June 3, 2016