Zakat Allocations and Student Welfare: A comparative study of first-time applicants and repeaters in Malaysia

Abstract

Zakat institutions have observed that allocated funds for students were not being fully utilized each year. This raises questions about whether the students were not aware of the available funds or if the allocated funds were not suitable for their needs. First-timers were more likely to apply zakat for stationeries and paying for tuition fees while repeaters were more likely to pay tickets for public transports. The study's findings provide insight into the spending behavior of students who applied for zakat and can be used as a reference to justify fund allocation in universities.