Construction of Zakat Multidimensional Poverty Index (ZMPI) in Malaysia based on Maqasid alShariah

Abstract

The concept of poverty is commonly acknowledged to be intricate and multifaceted. The narrow approach to defining poverty, which is centered on a monetary approach, ignores other key elements such as access to education, access to healthcare, type of home, and others that are relevant and can affect quality of life. It is vital for the policymaker to construct a holistic measure of poverty that incorporates both material and non-material areas of deprivation. From an Islamic perspective, the zakat institution plays a critical role in identifying the poor and destitute asnaf and distributing the zakat funds to the qualified recipients. Presently, zakat institutions are solely relying on the Had Kifayah method (HAK), which is a monetary-based approach to identifying the poor and destitute asnaf status and delivering zakat assistance. Thus, the goal of this study is to establish a multidimensional poverty measurement, called the Zakat Multidimensional Poverty Index (ZMPI) that aims to capture different deprivation areas that asnaf experience. An extensive analysis of the past studies, complemented by a semi-structured interview session was conducted to construct and validate the ZMPI. The proposed ZMPI integrates five dimensions, namely religion, health, education, living standards and income and represented by a total of eighteen indicators.