Management of Zakat Funds by Students in a Public University

The main objective of this paper is to identify how students from a public university in Malaysia manage their zakat funds. Specifically, it aims to identify the spending patterns of these students, their cash management behaviours, how the funds have benefited them, and lastly to determine whether some formal cash management program is necessary to guide them in ensuring a spending behaviour that will result in sustainable cash flow to the recipients. This paper is descriptive and explanatory using primary data. An online survey was distributed in August 2024, to 176 students of the Zakat recipients from a public university in Malaysia with a 76.1% response rate. The findings revealed a prudent spending pattern among the recipients, indicating good management behaviours. These behaviours are manifestations of good parental and peer influences and financial literacy. The findings from this paper will help the university identify the necessary programs that could enhance the student’s ability to efficiently manage funds to ensure sustainable cash flow during their time in university and lay the foundation for a lifetime of good saving and spending habits.