The Role of Selangor Zakat Board on Human Development Among the Fakir and Miskin Asnaf

Abstract

The management of zakat collection and distribution in Selangor is managed by Lembaga Zakat Selangor (LZS: Selangor Zakat Board). The role of LZS in distributing zakat includes the managing of five main programs: economic, social, educational, human, and religious institution development programs. These five programs can give individual balance to the receivers of zakat from all angles, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. But there are a few among the poor and needy who are troubled by values and attitudes. This concerns the issue of human development because the poor and needy feel comfortable with the attribute of being an 'asnaf' thereby preferring to rest at home and have fun with family, and thus forgetting their obligations to God. This study was conducted to find out the nature of the role of LZS on human development programs among the poor and needy to address the issue. This study adopts the qualitative research approach relying on a semi-structured interview with three informants from the staff of Lembaga Zakat Selangor, observation of the running of the program in six mosques, and an open-ended questionnaire distributed to 220 respondents from the poor and needy. The data collected were analyzed descriptively. The results of the study found that LZS places great emphasis on human development from the spiritual aspect of the poor and needy before the material aspect is developed. The spiritual aspect emphasized by LZS is by providing a Tahsinul Ibadah program or Islah program.