The Zakat Fund as a Source of Capital for Poor and Needy in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Allah created Man to be the vicegerent of Allah on earth (Al-Qur'an 2:30). To enable him to play such a role, Allah has provided all necessary resources, physically and mentally, for his material well-being. As for the poor and needy with limited resources, Islam has guaranteed a minimum standard of living in the form of zakat duty for the rich to be given to poor and destitute people. The zakat institution is a very important element in Islamic socio-economics. Zakat management, which covers both collection and and disbursement of the fund, has many aspects that need to be discussed. This study concentrates on the disbursement of the zakat fund in the form of the financing of economic activities of the poor and needy in Brunei Darussalam. The increasing number of zakat recipients, the large amount of accumulated zakat collections and the small number of recipients of capital assistance is part of the evidence of current zakat management in Brunei Darussalam, which has attracted the attention of the researcher. This paper stresses that capital assistance from the zakat fund is fulfilling the purpose of zakat fund disbursement and fits the obligation that accumulated zakat collections need to be distributed properly. Thus, the paper argues that the zakat program should be given more attention and managed more efficiently. This paper also investigates whether the zakat fund can be retained for investment or must be used for benevolent loans to finance income generating activities of the poor and needy.