BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Regardless of efforts to streamline the zakat software course of, practically 6,000 purposes stay unresolved as of July 10.
This was revealed throughout a session of the Legislative Council on Tuesday, the place the Minister of Non secular Affairs, Pehin Dato Ustaz Hj Awg Badaruddin PDP Hj Awg Othman, addressed persistent delays.
A complete of 5,951 zakat purposes are nonetheless pending, with 2,422 of those categorised as “in question” as a result of incomplete documentation, he shared. Greater than 2,000 others are nonetheless present process investigation and verification.
In keeping with the minister, a significant problem is the excessive variety of purposes submitted with incomplete documentation, which leaves them caught within the system with an “in question” standing.
He added that restricted staffing has slowed down processing instances, with the Division of Zakat, Waqaf and Baitulmal (JUZWAB) receiving a mean of 556 new purposes every month.
Whereas the introduction of the Nationwide Welfare System has digitalised a lot of the method, the system remains to be not absolutely automated and handbook checks are nonetheless required.
Regardless of these challenges, the ministry reported vital enhancements in software processing instances.
Beneath the previous Shopper’s Constitution in 2023, purposes took 294–295 days on common to be resolved.
This dropped to 156–157 days between July and December 2024, and was additional diminished to 54–55 days from January to June 2025.
These positive aspects have been attributed to a number of new measures, together with pre-screening of paperwork; making a process pressure to sort out backlogged instances; and utilizing the Minimal Value of Primary Wants baseline in decision-making.
The minister’s feedback got here in response a query from LegCo member Mohammad Abdullah @ Lim Swee Ann, who questioned the effectiveness of the zakat administration system. Citing continued delays and an absence of communication with the general public, Mohammad advised holding open periods on the district and mukim ranges to supply readability to candidates.
New zakat tips within the works
Pehin Dato Hj Badaruddin added that the federal government is making ready new tips for zakat disbursement to raised replicate present realities like meals insecurity, medical prices, and entry to primary utilities.
These adjustments are aimed toward refining the system that, in 2024, supported 3,399 folks — 1,197 heads of households and a couple of,202 dependents — who have been registered as fakir miskin, or “poor and needy”.
The brand new tips will embrace up to date eligibility standards, clearer definitions of who’s eligible for zakat, and an in depth define of the Minimal Value of Primary Wants. The doc can even specify the completely different classes of help obtainable earlier than being offered to the Islamic Non secular Council for approval.
In a separate initiative, the spiritual affairs ministry can be exploring using synthetic intelligence and blockchain know-how in zakat administration. In keeping with the minister, whereas these discussions are within the early phases, the federal government is critically contemplating the “enormous potential” of those instruments to enhance the governance of zakat distribution.
