Financial Management Practices in Religious Organizations: An Empirical Evidence of Mosque in Malaysia

Abstract

Within Muslim community, mosque is place for congregation, a centre of excellence for knowledge, economic pursuit and community services, giving religious instruction and political discussions. Mosque plays a crucial role in various aspects of Muslim life. It has great potential to ensure that the welfare of nearby society is well-taken care. In order to achieve the said objective, mosques should have a strong financial performance. This study adopts a cross sectional data analysis to examine factor contributes to mosque financial performance. Subsequently, this study examines the effects of mosque financial performance on its quality of programme. Result of regression analysis revealed that good internal control and active involvement of mosque committees in fund raising activities enhance mosque financial performance. This study also discovered that strong financial performance facilitates the mosque to conduct more quality and quantity program. The finding should provide awareness to mosque committee member on the need to create an effective internal control strategy to improve financial performance. Next, mosque needs to recognize the importance of fundraising activity. Finally, all mosques need to invite committee members who have some financial institution background to discuss the management strategy for improving its financial performance and in turns it quantity and quality of programs outcome. Keywords: