Distributing Zakat to Non-Muslims According to the Views of the Assembly of Acehnese Dayah Ulama (HUDA)

This paper discusses the distribution of zakat funds to the asnaf (those who qualify to receive zakat funds) by focusing on the non-Muslim asnaf-mualafs (those who have left their original religion to embrace Islam). According to the al-Qur’an, a mualaf is a person whose heart has accepted Islam. An asnaf-mualaf could be categorised into either a Muslim or a non-Muslim. The question is what are the interpretations of the word mualaf according to the ulama in the field of interpretation as well as according to the Assembly of Acehnese Dayah Ulama (HUDA). Thus, by using the content analysis and in-depth interview methods, the discussion in this paper was divided into two sections. The first section discussed the interpretations as well as the characteristics of asnaf-mualaf by the ulama in the field of interpretation. Whereas, the second section involved the interpretation offered by the Ulama in the Assembly of Acehnese Dayah Ulama (HUDA). The findings show that the Ulama in the field of interpretation had interpreted the mualaf to be a Muslim as well as a non-Muslim mualaf; meanwhile, the ulama at the Assembly of Acehnese Dayah Ulama (HUDA) emphasised more on asnaf-Muslims. This is because the Assembly of Acehnese Dayah Ulama (HUDA) had given an interpretation based on the al-Syafi‘iy sect and also previous Ulama that had permitted the distribution of zakat funds to only Muslims.