KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): A total of RM14.73 million in zakat fund last year for the "asnaf" (recipient) "fisabilillah" (to alleviate the greatness of Islam) category was not used by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) for its intended purposes and those in need according to priority.

The 2019 Auditor-General's Report Series 3 said that the distribution payments were channelled to welfare agencies and did not follow the proper meaning of "asnaf fisabilillah".

“The review found that this took place because the definition of "asnaf fisabilillah" is too general and not detailed according to the type of expenses allowed to use the zakat fund.

"In addition, no specific fatwa is set for the type of expenses and conditions of development projects that must be made using zakat money," according to the report released today.         

The findings were obtained from an audit conducted on payments under the Zakat Fund which covered transactions from January to December last year as well as the previous year including a review of 170 payment vouchers using zakat fund of RM206.9 million.

Apart from that, among the weaknesses that were also found including development projects on which consulting services amounting to RM4.72 million had been paid from 2013 to 2017 using zakat fund had been postponed until this year.

In this regard, the Audit recommended that the assistance scheme provided to ("asnaf fisabilillah") recipients should be in accordance with the actual priorities and definitions and detailed according to the type of expenses allowed using zakat money.

In addition, specific fatwa should also be provided for the type of expenses and conditions of development projects that could be made using zakat money on a 'case-by-case' basis to ensure no waste,  losses and reductions to zakat fund.

The report recommended that standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as periodic monitoring of project status, be enforced particularly involving the importance of agencies submitting reports on implementations, programme expenses and activities.

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