The relationship between philanthropic attitude and economic jihad in the Muslim community

Abstract

Philanthropic behavior refers to the act of being generous, kind, and helpful to fellow human beings. Due to the increasingly challenging economic development in today's technological era, people have to find ways to improve the strategy of empowering the economic jihad in society, especially the Muslim society. This study aims to examine the relationship between philanthropic attitude towards economic jihad and the strategy of empowering economic jihad in the context of the development of the Muslim community. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the society’s philanthropic attitude, in particular the Muslim society, and their knowledge in enhancing the economic strategy in Malaysia. The respondents of this study consist of 500 working people (216 males and 284 females) in Klang valley while the research instrument used is a questionnaire that consists of 37 question items. The period of the study was within 6 to 12 months. The results of this study were presented as a descriptive data analysis. The findings as a whole show that respondents' perceptions regarding philanthropic phenomena in Malaysia are at a high level. Philanthropic attitude is closely related to the Islamic economy, and with this attitude, the Muslim community can compete with other races in enhancing the economy and advance along with other Asian countries. At the end of the study, several suggestions have been forwarded to enhance the level of knowledge and understanding amongst students and communities regarding philanthropy. This noble attitude needs to be instilled and nurtured in every human being, and hence, should be fostered from an early age so that the concept can be fully understood by future generations.