The urgency of Zakat on Income Management for Gorontalo Community Empowerment

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to explain the substance of zakat on income regulation, to examine the government role in the management, utilization, and the importance of zakat on income management. Furthermore, the study aims to determine and analyze the constraints that obstruct the management of zakat on income in Gorontalo.The research is socio-legal research, which uses a qualitative analysis technique.The data is comprised of primary and secondary data. This research used the legislation, law concepts or theories, and case approach. Moreover, the research employed literature review, observation, and interview as the data collecting techniques.The results showed that the management of the zakat on income in Gorontalo is still low. There is a substantial weakness in the management of zakat on income, as the existing regulation has not accommodated the interest of the Islamic community, especially those who are obligated to giving zakat. Meanwhile, there are a lot ofprofessional groupswho are not aware of the obligation of giving their zakat on income. Hence, there is a necessity to penalize those who did not obey the regulation to raise awareness in the importance of paying zakat. Other factors that affect such phenomena are the lack of reliable and professional human resources as well as less supervision from the government.Also, the lack of community awareness of zakat on income culture and government role in zakat distribution result in low attention on the management of zakat on income. Zakat on income can empower the less fortunate people by underlying the importance of zakat on income management and by doing a proper administrationof the process of collecting, distributing, utilizing, as well as enhancing theprocess of zakat on income. Also, the management of zakat on income must be done as professional, transparent, and proportional as possible. Therefore, it can give a positive contribution to the local government, especially the National Zakat Board or Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (BAZNAS) of Gorontalo Province.