Roles Of The Islamic Voluntary Sector In Malaysia And Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the roles of the Islamic voluntary sector in two jurisdictions – one is representing an Asian country, Malaysia, and the other is the newest Member State of European Union, Croatia. The investigation undertaken in the research is purely library-based, engaging in secondary data including written rules, guidelines and reports in both jurisdictions. The preliminary findings reveal that there are numerous voluntary efforts being carried out by numerous organizations in both jurisdictions (Malaysia and Croatia), in sectors such as public finance, education, quality of life and health. The research further found that these efforts could potentially bring huge impacts to the development and well-being of the society, in four different dimensions: social, finance, organizational, and legal. This research will contribute to the body of knowledge on voluntary sectors especially on the roles and implications of the voluntary sectors towards shared prosperity of the people and economy in Malaysia and Croatia.

Keywords: Voluntary sectorIslamic financeIslamic economics

Introduction

Malaysia is one of the developing countries in Southeast Asia, while Croatia, the newest member of the European Union – though physically located at different parts of the world, among other things, they both have one thing in common. Both countries are moving hard towards improvement of the quality of life of their respective citizens. One of the initiatives which is increasingly gaining popularity in both Malaysia and Croatia – is the voluntary sector.

The voluntary sector is defined as organisations that are not-for-profit and non-governmental which carries out the duties of social activity, for instance activities relating to education, health, public finance, quality of life and the like. Often times, the voluntary sector is more likely referred to as ‘non-profit sector’ or ‘not-for-profit organisations’. Sometimes, this sector is also known as the ‘third sector’ in contrast to the ‘public sector’ and the ‘private sector’.

This study focuses on the Islamic voluntary sector, which is the sector that carries out Islamic activities as its voluntary primary services or activities, or one that carries out Islamic activities and works according to the Islamic rules. What is particularly referred to as Islamic voluntary sector is propounded by Ariff (1991) who conceptualised and outlined the Islamic voluntary sector initiatives in South East Asia – as being: zakat and waqf.

Given the fact that literature is scarce in this subject matter, particularly in the two jurisdictions of Malaysia and Croatia, it is imperative that a study be carried out to address the roles of the Islamic voluntary sector in these chosen countries.

Problem Statement

Historically, the duty to improve the quality of life of the people lies in the hands of the government or more likely known as the public sector. This follows the fact that the government holds the majority of wealth in the nation, hence they are responsible to oversee the funding and financial aspects of the needs of the community, such as providing public hospitals, public schools and tonnes of other public facilities (Nyhan, 2000; Bouckaert et al., 2016). However, with the emergence of the voluntary sector, the burden formerly held on the shoulders of the government is lessened. This follows the fact that some of the community services are shifted from the purview of the public sector to the purview of the voluntary sector (Nickel and Eikenberry, 2016; Bryson et al., 2017).

Within the broader context, literature seems to suggest that the voluntary sector plays an important role in the improvement of the quality of life of the people in a given jurisdiction (Skinner and Power, 2017; Vandermeerschen et al., 2017). This follows the fact that the people collectively put in effort to improve their own lives – collectively – for their benefit and sharing the roles and responsibilities amongst the people who willingly and voluntarily work towards a common goal.

One section of this effort, the one focusing on Islamic services and activities, is known as the Islamic voluntary sector. A number of initiatives are already in place using the Islamic voluntary sector model, such as waqf funds, waqf universities, waqf hospital, and zakat insitutions in various parts of the country (Amin et al., 2016).

However, lack of proper law and regulation to govern the implementation of the voluntary sector, coupled with the scarcity of literature on this subject matter had triggered this study to be carried out. In essence, two jurisdictions are chosen to become the case study or focus of this study – Malaysia and Croatia – as these two jurisdictions have one thing in common, among other things – they are both developing countries that are putting in a lot of effort towards the improvement of the quality of life of their respective citizens.

Research Questions

This study seeks to address the following research questions:

• What are the various aspects of the Islamic voluntary sector in Malaysia and Croatia?

• How the Islamic voluntary sector contributes towards the nation in general, and the society in particular.

Purpose of the Study

Guided by the above-mentioned research questions, the aims and purposes of the study are two-folds and consistent with the said questions:

• To identify the various aspects of the Islamic voluntary sector in Malaysia and Croatia.

• To examine how the Islamic voluntary sector contributes towards the nation in general, and the society in particular.

Research Methods

This study engages in purely library-based research, adopting the document analysis of secondary data on the subject matter of Islamic voluntary sector, including written rules, guidelines, reports and case studies. The analysis primarily involves the exploration of the conceptualisation of the Islamic services and activities of the voluntary sector in both Malaysia and Croatia, for the better understanding and appreciation of the roles of the sector towards the benefit of the nation in general, and the society in particular.

Findings

For the purpose of the study, there are two main findings which could be derived from the secondary data sources:

Conclusion

This paper sought to identify the various aspects of the Islamic voluntary sector in Malaysia and Croatia, and to examine how the Islamic voluntary sector contributes towards the nation in general, and the society in particular. After carrying out the research, it was found that there are numerous voluntary efforts being carried out by numerous organizations in both jurisdictions (Malaysia and Croatia), in sectors such as public finance, education, quality of life and health. The research further found that these efforts could potentially bring huge impacts to the development and well-being of the society, in four different dimensions: social, finance, organizational, and legal. Hopefully, this paper would contribute to the literature on the subject matters of voluntary sector, Islamic banking and finance, and specifically to the area of the regulation of zakat and waqf.

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