Zakat for Higher Education Institutions: Promoting Academic Excellence for Muslim Students

Zakat institutions actively perform their role in helping asnaf fisabilillah by distributing zakat funds in the form of educational assistance. This assistance is distributed to ensure that this group receives educational opportunities and succeeds. Educational issues such as dropping out of school due to failure to pay tuition fees hinder the excellence of Muslims. As an Islamic country, Malaysia and Indonesia are no exception in distributing zakat funds through their respective higher education institutions. The question is, does zakat really motivate students to remain excellent in academics? Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and analyse the influence of zakat assistance on the academic achievement of students at Universiti Teknologi MARA Terengganu Branch (UiTMCT), Malaysia and Universitas Sains Al-Qur’an (UNSIQ), Indonesia. This study also formulated suggestions to strengthen zakat assistance at UiTMCT and UNSIQ. The quantitative research method was used for data collection by distributing questionnaires to 54 students at UiTMCT and UNSIQ. The findings were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 24. The t-test results found that there was a significant difference among the academic performance variables of UiTMCT and UNSIQ, with a p-value of less than 0.05. This proved that zakat funds have catalysed academic excellence, particularly among students at UNSIQ. The implication is that academic excellence benefits students and society in Malaysia and Indonesia when these students engage in the industry and contribute to their respective fields.