Misconception Of Zakat And Distributive Justice In Islam: Case Study Of Zakat Institutions In Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a multidimensional crisis in health, economic, social, and lifestyle due to the pandemic. Many people in various countries endure hardships and struggle to make ends meets. Hence, as an Islamic social fund, zakat plays a role in mitigating this problem by assisting communities directly affected by it. This study investigates the role of zakah and addresses the issues related to zakat misconceptions and management by demonstrating the importance of zakat through a variety of evidence undertaken by zakat institutions during the pandemic. This study adopts a qualitative research method by using secondary data and analytical approaches to achieve its objectives. Zakat distribution programmes conducted by all zakat institutions in Malaysia for zakat beneficiaries affected by Covid-19 have been one of the study’s most important findings. This highlights the viability of zakat principles as one of Islam’s distributive justice mechanisms in assisting and alleviating the burden imposed on society, particularly those in the asnaf categories due to the Covid-19 pandemic’. The study is limited to the focus on the zakat mechanism in the context of distribution justice from the Islamic perspective