Page 335 - Dimensi Baharu Zakat di Malaysia

© DIMENSI BAHARU ZAKAT DI MALAYSIA
ISBN 978-967-2959-04-5

after application, and the funds were of immense benefit to all the
recipients because they helped in buying basic necessities, including
food, medicine, and personal protective equipment during the MCO.
In short, Pusat Pungutan Zakat (PPZ), which translated to English
as Zakat Collection Centre, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP), who
responsible for carrying out zakat collection work as well as efforts
to deliver zakat related dakwah to the Muslim community in the
Federal Territory.

THE CURRENT SITUATIONS
As of the 1st of February 2021, 221 countries have been affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic, with 103,672,967 infected patients and
2,241,041 deaths, representing a 2.1% mortality rate
(Worldometers. 2021). Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) countries, including Malaysia, have not been spared from
COVID-19, although there have been fluctuations in the rate of
infection demonstrated in the number of new cases and deaths
reported in January 2021. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic has
strained and even overwhelmed the public health, medical care, and
disaster response systems where governments and state agencies
were less prepared to contain and suppress infectious outbreaks. In
countries where emergency lockdown measures have been adopted
without accompanying policies to guarantee income security and
housing tenure, there is additional economic hardship (John Gulick
et al., 2020).
As for Malaysia, the cost of living is a vital issue in recent years.
The government has proven its concern by emphasizing the welfare
of the people through various initiatives. Standard of living
worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus with the
movement restriction such as Movement Control Order (MCO)
enforced by the Malaysian government, people are unable to go to
work and looking for extra income. As a result, households will be
burdened with various forms of a financial burden. Meanwhile, the
most recent finding points out that income growth has surpassed the

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