Does Multifaceted Poverty Approach Enhance the Identification of The Poor and Needy in Zakat Institutions?

Does Multifaceted Poverty Approach Enhance the Identification of The Poor and Needy in Zakat Institutions?

Azhana Othman
Centre for Islamic Philanthrophy and Social Finance (CIPSF), Universiti Teknologi MARA
Malaysia

Abstract
Poverty is frequently associated with the lack of monetary resources in fulfilling one’s need. However, current developments indicate that there are other aspects that are equally important in addressing the issues of poverty. Thus, accurate diagnosis of the causes of poverty and the identification of the poor and the needy is crucial in ensuring proper assistance is extended to those who are in need. There are two main approaches in identifying poverty namely objective and subjective poverty. Objective poverty is based on income while subjective poverty utilised a participatory approach in determining poverty status. This study further includes zakat (tithe) based poverty associated with zakat institutions, as it is the focus of this study. Zakat based poverty or had-al-kifayah considers expenditure of household in determining the minimum amount requires by household. Zakat institutions are organisations entrusted to collect and distribute zakat to the beneficiaries; utilised zakat-based poverty line to screen applicants for zakat fund distribution. Zakat based poverty line income is a variant of objective poverty. However, the multifaced nature of poverty should include subjective poverty approach for a more accurate identification of the poor and the needy. As such, the paper evaluates the three poverty approaches as discussed. Data were obtained from a survey of the applicants of zakat fund in the State Islamic Religious Council (SIRC) of Melaka, one of the states in Malaysia. Our findings revealed that there are significant differences between each approach in determining who the poor are. Poverty Line Income and zakat-based poverty reported a lower number of poor and needy compare to subjective poverty estimates. Subjective poverty approach if utilised will complement current approaches and enhance the identification of the poor and need.
Keywords: Subjective poverty, Objective poverty, Poverty line income, Zakat, Zakat based poverty line



Introduction
Poverty is a widely used and meaningful concept in all countries in the world. Poverty has become an economic, social, and political issue all over the world particularly in the developing and third-world nations including many of the Muslim countries. Although poverty is a universal concept, its definition is often contested. In general, it is believed that governments and markets alone are unlikely to solve the poverty problem. Therefore, it is crucial for other parties consisting of the general societies, non-profits and non-government organizations to actively participate in encouraging economic growth and welfare, thus alleviating poverty.
In Islam, poverty is defined based on an individual failure to fulfil any of the five basic human requirements of life that is based on Maqasid Syariah: 1) religion, ii) physical self, iii) knowledge, iv) dignity, and v) wealth (Ahmad Nadzri, Abd Rahman, & Omar, 2012). Consistent with the brotherhood concept in Islam, Muslims were strongly encouraged to look after the poor in their community.
Generally, poverty is measured in monetary terms, based on the income levels or consumption per capita or per household. On the other hand, Islam defines poverty based on individual failure to fulfil any of the five basic human requirements of life that is based on Maqasid Syariah. In Islam, poverty were views as social and ideological problems. It is considered as social problem due to the effect are felt in the society as a whole. Moreover, it is also an ideological problem as it affects the performance of one’s socio-religious obligation towards the community and Islam. Therefore, it was suggested that poverty cannot be alleviated through income redistribution only, but it needs to include a holisti

In-Text Citation: (Othman, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Othman, A. (2018). Does Multifaceted Poverty Approach Enhance the Identification of The Poor and Needy in Zakat Institutions? International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(11), 779–790.

Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
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