The COVID-19 outbreak has been spreading around the world for almost two years. The spread of this epidemic has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare COVID-19 as a pandemic as it has affected various sectors especially the economic, social, educational and borderless health sectors. This situation also affects zakat institutions and centers when the poverty rate among students and those affected by health problems increases. At the same time, the number of those who still drop out of receiving zakat assistance remains the same. Apart from that, the inefficient data recording of the asnaf group is also one of the problems faced in the distribution of aid. This requires institutions and zakat centers to formulate new strategies in the face of this pandemic. Thus, this study examines the strategy of the Zakat Sedekah and Wakaf Unit of UiTM Kelantan Branch (UZSW) in the management of zakat to face the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses a qualitative method. Data was collected from secondary data, namely the annual report to obtain data related to UZSW from 2020 to 2021. Primary data was also used through interviews to obtain accurate information on the distribution of zakat asnaf students. Observation methods are also used to understand the work of UZSW in ensuring the distribution of zakat is implemented effectively. As a result, several themes were defined from the data before being analyzed based on content analysis method.

Critical thinking is a very important intellectual tool that could help a person form arguments, determine the credibility of sources, analyse presumptions or make decisions in various contexts. Hence, this study intended to examine the Western and Islamic critical thinking concepts as well as its significance according to the al-Quran and the views of scholars. The library research method was used extensively for collecting and analysing data, which was sourced from literature by philosophers, psychologists and Islamic scientists, especially those involved in the cognitive field. The conceptual framework was built using the content analysis method. According on the analysis, the importance of Islamic critical thinking based on the al-Quran and views of scholars in the cognitive field were extensively elaborated to assist in the practice of Islamic critical thinking. The study found similarities and differences between Islamic and Western critical thinking. The similarities are from the rational utilization aspect and the difference is from the value of truth aspect, whereby Islamic critical thinking accepts divine deliverance (wahyu) as the main source of reference when thinking so that the product of thinking eventually becomes the absolute truth. Hence, the major significance of Islamic critical thinking is to enhance the faith (iman) and piousness (takwa) towards Allah SWT by contemplating and examining nature. At the same time, critical thinking helps a person to face contemporary challenges and solve problems related to every aspect of life. Moreover, critical thinking activities are greatly demanded in Islam so that the mind bestowed by Allah SWT is not neglected and is used properly without transgressing HIS divine deliverance (wahyu).