The justice in Islam had attracted and opens the hearts of non-muslins to accept Islam. The justice and truthfulness of Islamic teaching attracts the human to be part of its through conversion or reconciliation of hearts (Muallaf al-Qulub) and it is one of the zakat recipients mentioned in Al-Qur'an. In Selangor, zakat assistance to the new converts begins from the first day they become Muslims. The new Muslim would be immediately helped with MYR 500.00 monthly allowance for five years until they manage to act in accordance with Allah's orders and to perform worshipping (Mukallaf). This paper identifies the factors of new converts' poverty in Selangor, Malaysia using a logistic regression method. A set of survey questionnaires has been used in this research and 80 respondents were randomly selected from Selangor Zakat Centre (SZC) zakat recipient's list from the New Converts category for nine districts of Selangor in 2013. We estimate the probability of households with specified characteristics to fall below Malaysia's official poverty line. Results show that education, size, region, income and amount of zakat received significantly reduces the chance of being poor while gender, age, status were not significant predictor. Thus, these statistical measures have proven the positive role of zakat in reducing poverty among the new converts. The findings have important policy implications for zakat institution and Malaysian government which has pledged to reduce overall poverty rate to 2.8 per cent and eradicate hard core poverty by 2010 under the Ninth Malaysian Plan.

In competing with other book publishers in Malaysia, Rahim, the founder of Ambang Mata Sdn. Bhd. had introduced a new product line which was a lifestyle Muslim magazine called “Indahnya Islam.†Having ventured into several divisions in book publishing industry such as preschool books, textbooks, story books for children, children comics and other general books, Rahim had a bigger plan for his company. The business journey had begun in 1987 when Rahim started his company by becoming a distributor dealing with halal cosmetics and halal food manufacturers. He had faced the ups and downs as a distributor, and later saw an opportunity to publish books for Islamic preschool students in the early 1990s. Publishing Islamic preschool books was a segment not fully catered by many book publishers. Since then, Rahim did not turning back and foresee all opportunities in publishing books and magazines not only for children, but also for adults as part of fard kifayah. The existence of internet technology and e-marketing in the era of information and communication technology (ICT) as well as the emergence of 4th Industrial Revolution offered opportunities and had affected the retailing marketing process and strategy including the book publishing industry. Henceforth, Rahim had to plan strategically in order to ensure that his 25-year-old company will survive albeit competing in the modern technology market environment.

The success of awqaf institutions are determined by many factors, among others is good feedback from the endowers either from their contribution or repeat endowing. This study investigates the perception of endowers to endow and factors motivating them to repeat endowing in ensuring waqf institution success among 366 respondents in 2014. The study employs two models of multiple linear regression analysis. The first model examines the determinant factors influencing the intention to endow whereas the second model investigates internal and external factors influencing the intention to repeated waqf endowment in future. The findings show integrity of waqf institution, religious obligation and access to cash waqf have significant contribution to the endower’s perception to endow cash waqf. Meanwhile, repeated cash waqf behavior will take place if endowers are familiar with waqf institutions and have easy access to cash waqf as these two variables are significantly related to dependent variable. Thus, in order to motivate endowers to repeat cash waqf behavior, continuous promotion to create familiarity together with easy access to cash waqf are vital to encourage repeated charitable behavior.

Cash waqfis an Islamic tool in the Islamic Economic System. Cash waqf inculcates the culture of giving through Islamic philanthropy. Cash waqf must be used as a socio-economic development mechanism to create and develop a third sector that is not profit-motivated and distinct from private and public sectors. Awareness of cash waqf contributionand the obligation to donate are crucial among Malaysians. Waqf institutions have seriously promoted waqf financing instruments to enhance awareness and participation in society. However, awareness toward cash waqf in Malaysia lags behind that in Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries. This study examines the internal determinants of donors’ (waqif) intention to participate in giving cash waqf among Muslims in Malaysia. This study is conducted using a quantitative approach based on constructed questionnaires to identify patterns of factors that influence cash waqf contribution. Structural equation modelling technique is applied in the analysis. Findings show several internal factors, such as religious obligation, benevolence, familiarity with waqf institutions, and access to cash waqf, that have strong relationship with donors’ intention to repeat contribution of cash waqf in the future. Waqf institutions should encourage people to donate cash waqf in Malaysia. However, most of the respondents do not trust waqf institution. Trust is a significant internal factor in the intention to repeat contribution of cash waqf. Thus, waqf institutions should build good reputation and integrity to attract big contributors among Muslims in Malaysia and increase the level of intention among donors (waqif). Waqf institutions should consider these factors in planning their strategies to ensure adequate waqf funds that could accommodate further development for the benefit of th eummah. Keywords: internal factors, cash waqf, Islamic social finance, repeat cash waqf contribution, structural equation modelling (SEM)

The awareness on cash waqf and the willingness to endow are imperative for the sustainability of the awqaf mechanism. In fact, waqf institutions have taken serious effort to promote waqf financing instrument in order to enhance the awareness and participation of the society. The awareness and the willingness to endow towards cash waqf in Malaysia is still lagging behind compared to other countries like Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries. Thus, in understanding the background of cash waqf endowers, this paper presents the demography and socio-economic profiles of frequent cash waqf cash waqf endower. Survey questionnaire have been distributed to 400 respondents using random sampling and 345 are valid. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of this study show that 55 percent of the respondents had an intention to endow cash waqf continuity is more common among married males of 36 to 40 years old. And live in rural area. Meanwhile, the socio-economic background of respondents shows that continuous cash waqf endowers were mostly graduate professionals and management workers who received formal Islamic education in university and earned between RM 1501-RM3000 monthly. These findings provide some insights of the potential continuous cash waqf endower's profile which might be beneficial to waqf agencies in accumulating waqf contribution in Malaysia.

The awareness on cash waqf contribution and the obligation to donate is now higher among Malaysians. In fact, many Malaysians donate cash waqf repeatedly. In understanding the background of cash waqf contributors, this paper presents the socio-demographic and socioeconomic profiles of those who donate repeatedly. A survey has been distributed to 100 respondents using random sampling. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of this article show that 51 percent respondents claim that they will donate cash waqf repeatedly. Based on the respondent’s demographic background, the prevalence of donating cash waqf repeatedly is more common among females, aged between 20 to 25 years old, single and live in urban area. Meanwhile, the socio-economic background of the respondents shows that repeated cash waqf contributors are mostly professional and management workers, degree and postgraduate degree holders, those who received formal Islamic education in university, and those who earn between RM1501-RM3000 monthly. These findings provide some insights of repeated cash waqf contributor’s profile which might be beneficial to waqf agencies in accumulating waqf contribution in Malaysia.

Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam that emphasises the socio-economic development. Any discussion on zakat in the context of worship cannot be disconnected from the socioeconomic factor, especially in aiding the underprivileged. The primary purpose of zakat is to redistribute wealth of the society among the poor. Zakat is not purely welfare-oriented that relies on the contribution of the giver but an obligation that must be carried out to qualified recipients.Therefore, it is pertinent that the management of zakat is made efficient to ensure that the rights of the recipients and the society, in general, will not be put in jeopardy. The question is then raised regarding the type of zakat distribution or programmes pertaining to the asnaf Muallaf. The objective of this article is to explore challenges and the success of zakat distribution and aids for sustaining muallaf belief (Tauhid) and thoughts (Iman). The methodology of this article is based on qualitative research through document analysis and interview with zakat officer and respondents. This article has revealed that some challenges and success perception said by the Muallaf as the zakat recipient benefited from the zakat aids. Results show that State Islamic Religious Council should continue support and to improve from time to time to a more comprehensive program that focus on sustaining the Muallaf belief (Tauhid) and thoughts (Iman).