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Zakat & Waqf: Impact on Women and Community Development | 7
© Zakat & Waqf: Impact on Women and Community Development
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indirect job opportunities for all categories of people among asnaf such
as women entrepreneurs (Salman, D.M., 2016).

Welfare Function of Zakat
Income redistribution is ensured by zakat. The equal sharing of
resources between the current and future generations is a goal of Islam.
Islam also underlines the need to grant rights to the underprivileged in
a way that upholds their pride and dignity. The responsibility of
reducing poverty falls to the state. Zakat is employed for this objective
and created to encourage the welfare function of state spending
(Ibrahim, P. and Ghazali, R, 2014).

ZAKAT ADMINISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION
IN MALAYSIA

The Zakat controversy and its related difficulties can be historically
linked to a particular era in Malaysian history. As far as history goes, it
is acceptable to state that the colonial and post-colonial centuries saw
the formal evolution of zakat administrations. In a nutshell, the Zakat
payment was not formally handled during the pre-colonial era. It used
to be more influenced by the local custom of giving Zakat revenues to
religious teachers so they may use them for their personal needs or the
needs of deserving beneficiaries (Abdul Aziz Muhammad, 1993).

It is evident that the strong regard the peasants had for their religious
teachers led to the development of such Zakat payment methods. It
should come as no surprise that several jurisdictions still practise this
custom today. It may also be argued that a significant portion of the
Zakat collected during those times came from the harvests of paddy
farming, which was a popular occupation at the time.

The British created a division between the administration of Islamic
concerns and Malay customs, on the one hand, and other areas of state

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