The Role of Zakat for Poverty Alleviation in Indonesia

Abstract

Poverty is the most complicated problem faced by Indonesia for many years, where there are many small people who do not receive the government's attention in the distribution of direct assistance to meet the needs of life. According to BPS data in 2017, the poverty rate in Indonesia reached 26.58 million people (10.12 percent) (www.bps.go.id). Zakat is one of the efforts to help the poor in fulfilling their daily lives. This study aims to determine how the role of zakat on poverty alleviation in Indonesia in 2016-2017 by using secondary data listed on the BAZNAS website. This paper uses indicators contained in zakat such as; collection, distribution, and ACR (Allocation to Ratio) of zakat on the data listed on the BAZNAS website. The method we use is a quantitative approach by taking 68 samples contained in the August 2016-2017 report of the National Amyl Zakat Agency (BAZNAS). This study confirms that ZIS can reduce the poverty in Indonesia. The collection and distribution of ZIS has a directly proportional relationship to the poverty rate in Indonesia. When there is an increase in the collection and distribution of ZIS, the poverty rate in Indonesia also increases.

Keywords: Zakat, Poverty Alleviation, Role of Zakat