Good governance based on Maqasid al-Shariah in management of tabung masjid: a case study of Malaysia

Malaysia is considered as one of the creative and vibrant Islamic countries that promote modernity and civilization of Islam in the world. Its approach to good governance, especially in Islamic banking and Finance, administration of Islamic affairs in general, and public welfare are undeniable. However, its attention to good governance in the management of Tabung Masjid is still at a developing stage. Tabung Masjid in Malaysia is still lacking good governance in many ways. Some of these ways are strategic planning for expenditure, accounting, banking, and investing the surplus of Tabung Masjid. This paper examines the ways Tabung Masjid is being managed in Malaysia focusing on three aspects namely, account reporting, banking strategy and investment of surplus. The paper uses Maqasid al-Shariah approaches to determine whether good governance is adopted in the management of the Tabung Masjid. Four states are selected using their regional demographic locations namely, Selangor, Kelantan, Johor and Saba. The data is analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The result shows that while Malaysia has transformed some of the public funds to fortune for the benefit of the masses, yet the potentials of Tabung Masjid in the Malaysian states have not been tapped to achieve the Maqasid al-Shariah of daruriyyaat, hajiyyaat and tahsiniyyaat. The paper suggests that in order to fully explore the concept of Maqasid al-Shariah to achieve good governance, Tabung masjid in Malaysia needs to be diligently managed to meet the optimal requirements of Maqasid al-Shariah in all it ramifications