government finances. For zakah administrators who are under finance solely
from zakah funds, their salaries and other benefits are dependent on the state
of zakah funds. In view of the limited funds, this group could not be
accorded the same benefits enjoyed by their counterparts under state
government finance. A possible solution can be devised to seek an approach
with better incentives for zakah administrators, irrespective of whether they
are state government servants or the staff of the financially-independent
Council.
Finally, zakah administrators generally admit that they face the problem
of zakah payment made through unofficial channels. The majority claim that
the problem is not significant but there is a lack of evidence to substantiate
this claim. However, this subject will be discussed further in the following
section on the basis of a survey conducted in the month of Ramadan to get an
impression of some questions pertinent to this issue. (Aidit).
3. ZAKAH DISTRIBUTION IN MALAYSIA*
3.0 Introduction: Eligible Beneficiaries
The appropriate disbursement of zakah to the destitute and the needy
is no less important than the payment of zakah by those obliged to pay it.
According to Ghazali the uses of zakah funds in Malaysia are influenced
significantly by the following three factors 1:
1. Interpretation of the beneficiaries eligible to receive the zakah.
*
This chapter heavily draws on the followingtwo works:
(a) Aidit bin Ghazali, "Zakat Administration in Malaysia", a paper presented at the
workshop on Islam and Economic Development of . Southeast Asia, held in Singapore,
24 to 25 August, 1987, organizedby theInstituteof SoutheastAsian Studies (ISEAS).
(b) Muhammad Arif and Hj. Jamil bin Osman, "Eradicating Poverty in Malaysia: The Case
for Zakat as one of the Means - Problems and Prospects"- a paper presented at the
National Seminar on Islamic Economics organized by the Kulliyyah of Economics,
International Islamic University, Malaysia, 19 to 20 December, 1989.
1Aidit Ghazali, Ibid, pp. 26-28.
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