Companies have become key players in addressing social and environmental challenges. Companies contribute significant financial and non-financial resources to support social initiatives through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Consequently, companies allocated zakat for their CSR activities and sustainability agenda through wakalah corporate zakat refund. Using this wakalah mechanism, companies as muzakki (zakat payers) receive an assignation of authority to distribute zakat to eligible beneficiaries based on the specific condition after paying a certain amount of zakat to zakat institutions. However, there is limited attention on the corporate zakat distribution practices among corporate zakat payers in Malaysia. Most studies on corporate zakat and CSR focus on Islamic financial institutions, while studies on zakat distribution mainly investigate the practice of zakat institutions. Thus, this study aims to explore and understand the practice of corporate zakat distribution for CSR initiatives among corporate zakat payers in Malaysia. This study applied a qualitative approach where data obtained from interviews with five corporate zakat payers were examined thoroughly. This study identified three main themes in corporate zakat distributions; top management commitment, zakat framework, and stakeholder engagement. This study is expected to contribute to understanding corporate zakat practices in Malaysia and provide insights to encourage companies to manage their zakat fund systematically to support CSR initiatives.
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In-Text Citation: (Zaini et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Zaini, N., Arshad, R., & Muda, R. (2022). Exploring Zakat Distribution Practices for CSR Initiatives: Perspectives of Corporate Zakat Payers in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(11), 2332– 2344.
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