BUALNEWS.COM — Poverty is a problem that always arises in every country, whether absolute poverty or relative poverty. Poverty is multi-dimensional, because it contains social, cultural, and religious aspects. The problem of poverty is closely related to efforts to equalize income. According to Rini and Sugihati, several causes of poverty include gender issues, number of family members, employment, credit, education, access to information and technology as well as pandemics or the presence of disease.
The lack of capital access for the impoverished is the main cause of the poverty cycle in Indonesia. Aside from that, the challenge of lowering Indonesia’s poverty rate stems from an economic structure that fails to provide for the underprivileged. The large number of people who are unbankable due to a lack of assets as collateral for basic credit loans and the difficulty impoverished people have in escaping poverty are indicators that financial institutions, which act as intermediary institutions that channel funds from the community, do not perform their functions well. Due to the low percentage of entrepreneurship compared to the population in Indonesia (only 0.3%), there has been a disproportionate lack of job creation compared to the size of the workforce, which has led to high rates of poverty and unemployment.
Empowering the populace with ZIS (zakat, infaq, and alms) is one strategy to boost the economy and address the issue of poverty (Nazlah Khairina, 2019). Optimizing the allocation and management of zakat collected at Baznas (the national zakat amil agency) is one way to address the issue of poverty. Bulutoding and Anggeraini state that the amil zakat agency (BAZ) or amil zakat institution (LAZ) is a crucial hub for gathering and allocating zakat to the underprivileged.
There are two dimensions to zakat worship: the horizontal or hablum minannaas dimension and the vertical or hablum minallah dimension (Ruslan Abdul Ghofur & Suhendar, 2021). Zakat is crucial to initiatives aimed at promoting economic growth or reducing poverty. First of all, as zakat is a religious obligation that is a manifestation of one’s religion, it has strategic value. Second, there is always a source of funding for zakat. Third, socioeconomic disparity in society can be empirically eliminated by zakat.
Zakat is a significant area of Islamic generosity. Every Muslim who has fulfilled the conditions (muzzaki) to cleanse his income by distributing his zakat to mustahik (zakat recipients) is required to pay zakat, which is the third pillar of Islam. In addition to providing support for the mustahik economy, zakat has the potential to act as a counterbalance in the national economy. Over time, the primary objective of zakat is to convert mustahik into muzakki. This demonstrates how zakat has a significant chance of eradicating poverty and economic inequity in a nation.
If zakat management proceeds are directed toward profitable enterprises, they can effectively contribute to the betterment of community welfare by channeling cash collected in zakat institutions. Anwar claims that the application of fruitful zakat is zakat that is consistently given to mustahik. As of right now, consumptive zakat has dominated the zakat distributed to the community, meaning that the advantages acquired can only be utilized temporarily after the zakat has been delivered.
ZIS funds are managed by the BAZNAS Meranti Islands district based on a framework of both vertical and horizontal responsibility. Vertical accountability is accountability that is connected to Habluminallah. In the meantime, accountability comes naturally. One feature of habluminanna interactions is horizontal. Vertical accountability is suppressed by the notion of trust. By using short messaging (SMS) and WhatsApp to report directly to zakat donors and muzaki, as well as by disseminating reports on social media, BAZNAS Meranti Islands Regency’s accountability has satisfied all four requirements of financial accountability. Three criteria can be used to assess the level of accountability at BAZNAS Meranti Islands Regency: timely data presentation, public financial accountability, and government or outside institution audits.
Additionally, the BAZNAS for Meranti Islands Regency’s SOPs and Sharia principles are followed in the handling of ZIS BAZNAS finances. The zakat amil agency management information system, or SIMBA, has been employed by the BAZNAS Meranti Islands district to enter financial data. The operating information system and the reporting information system are the two systems that make up SIMBA. Law No. 23 of 2011 and the Baznas Regulations serve as the legal foundation that BAZNAS Meranti Islands Regency uses to launch its operations (PERBAZNAS). Among the initiatives BAZNAS has put in place in the Meranti Island District are those related to religion, health, education, productivity, and consumption. These initiatives are all operating smoothly and have won numerous accolades. Additionally, an audit of the financial statements revealed that they were all fair (WTP). ***
Penulis: Dr. Sri Rahmany, S.E.I., M.E.Sy, Dosen Manajemen Keuangan Syariah (MKS) Institut Syariah Negeri Junjungan Bengkalis
