EXAMINE THE AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE ON PUBLIC PERCEPTION TOWARDS ZAKĀT MANAGEMENT DURING THE POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD IN BANGLADESH

Abstract The global COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions of people at an alarming rate. Its emergence has slowed or even stopped economic activity worldwide due to the restrictions on movement imposed to contain the disease's spread. The globe has not experienced such an event in some decades. The COVID-19 pandemic appeared out of nowhere and has since spread worldwide, with five million deaths recorded globally in just a few months. The economic crisis has prompted global shrinkage, which has resulted in an anticipated economic collapse for 2020–2021. Islamic social finance illustrates that this challenging situation has significantly increased the number of needy people and the needs to do something for them. Maintaining Zakāt management has been recognized as a tool to help those impacted by the pandemic contend with the disruption. Zakāt can be helpful in offering financial assistance to needy people. This study's main objective is to examine the public awareness and knowledge towards the Zakāt management during the post-pandemic period in Bangladesh. The study was conducted among government employees, non-government employees, and middle-class business people in Bangladesh. This study applied a descriptive research design and a quantitative research method where the sample size was 210, and the target population was 460. Data was collected through the online procedure using a Google survey form that uses a 1 to 5 Liker scale. The data collection geography city was Dhaka, Bangladesh. The public's awareness of Zakāt management is the unit of analysis. A conceptual framework model has been developed for this study. The study will use SPSS 23.00 and Smart Pls 3.3.3 to measure hypothesis tests. The analyses revealed that Islamic social financing, through instruments especially, Zakāt, can offer and provide financial assistance during and after a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, from various sectors such as education, social, and humanitarian aid. The results and hypothesis showed that the public's trust in Zakāt institutions is expected to grow as more policies on zakāt management are developed socio-economically