JAKARTA — Dompet Dhuafa held a public discussion event entitled “The Role of Institutions & Utilization of Digital Technology in Poverty Alleviation (Pengentasan Kemiskinan) (Legitimizing Dompet Dhuafa as a Public Service Institution)” on Wednesday (22/2/2023). This event occurred at Tigalima Kopi Menteng, Jalan K.H. Wahid Hasyim, Gondangdia, Central Jakarta.
The speakers who attended this event included the Chairman of Ramadhan 1444 Dompet Dhuafa, Suci Nuzleni Qadarsih, Director of Communication & Technology of Dompet Dhuafa, Prima Hadi Putra, IDEAS Researcher, Tira Mutiara, Editor-in-Chief of MNC, Gaib Maruto Sigit, Beneficiary of the Desa Tani Dompet Dhuafa Program, Ade Rukmana, General Manager of FreakOut Indonesia, Pradwita Ghazali, Head of Sharia Business Development and Product Solution, Agung Lesmana, and VADS.
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There was one interesting thing from the first session of the talk show presented by Tira Mutiara, one of the IDEAS researchers (Institute for Demographic and Poverty Studies). Tira talked about how philanthropic institutions in Indonesia play a role in alleviating poverty in the republic. Previously, BPS noted that the number of poor people in Indonesia as of September 2022 was 7.53% or 26.36 million. This number has decreased by 0.14 million people compared to September 2021 data. In this regard, philanthropic institutions and OPZ are very instrumental in helping the government’s mission to reduce the percentage of poverty to 0%.
“Poverty is a persistent problem and the factors are very complex. Not only judging by his one-two-month income or his ability to buy food but rather the poverty itself consists of several types. Economic factors, hereditary, cause poverty, so this is a common task, especially as an Islamic philanthropic institution. Well, this is where zakat funds come in,” she said.
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Zakat is one of the subfactors that aims not only as worship, but also as a socio-economic driver of the dhuafa. The milestone of zakat management itself has existed since the era of independence, but at that time, it was still individual and now in the era of the management reform movement continues to develop such as the establishment of the Amil Zakat Dompet Dhuafa Institution in 1993. It continued until the new era of zakat centralization which was marked by the birth of Law No.23/2011.
“The latest data from the five largest OPZs in Indonesia, such as Baznas (Badan Amil Zakat Nasional) which grew by around 29.6% and the latest collections from 2012 of 50 M to increase to 527.6 M in 2021. Furthermore, the second is Dompet Dhuafa, which also experienced an increase of 7.9%. The total collection itself is 413.7 M in 2021,” explained Tira.
The Effect of Zakat on Economic Growth
Furthermore, Tira also explained how the influence of zakat is on economic growth. This influence can be felt when zakat is given by muzaki to mustahik through Islamic philanthropic institutions based on its program, people’s purchasing power also increases because they buy consumption. When purchasing power rises, then it will affect industrial production.
The increase in industrial production can also reduce unemployment and the tax will increase, so state revenues will also increase. If state revenues increase, then all communities will feel an increased development.
“Therefore, OPZ hopes that mustahik will transform into muzaki. So that the effect of zakat will later become more positive. However, it needs to be managed and there needs to be innovation, collaboration, and so on that takes time and is certainly not easy,” said Tira.
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It was also explained by Tira one of the studies conducted by Irfan Syauqi Beik related to “Analysis of the Role of Zakat in Reducing Poverty: A Case Study of Dompet Dhuafa Republika” in 2010. Of the 50 Dompet Dhuafa respondents studied, the analysis showed that the zakat given was able to reduce mustahik poverty by 10% compared to before zakat was distributed and channeled.
On this occasion, Haryo Mojopahit as GM of Dompet Dhuafa Communication also explained that Dompet Dhuafa carries out a triangle of empowerment in alleviating poverty in Indonesia. The strategies are Social Empowering, Economic Empowering, and Advocacy.
“We eliminate the emergency, we build the ability to have our own income, and together we build the system so that anyone who wants to try to have skills can succeed in realizing their dreams. We believe in Dompet Dhuafa as the theory of change we want to carry out. We also hope that Dompet Dhuafa will contribute little to reducing poverty through this empowerment strategy,” said Haryo.
Gaib Maruto Sigit as the Editor-in-Chief of MNC also added, “For our society, infaq has become a lifestyle. Therefore, many poor people survive because of the surrounding environment, where they still have a high sense of sympathy. Therefore, the role of zakat institutions is not to make donations a target, but the target is humanity.”
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On the other hand, Ade Rukmana, the beneficiary of the Dompet Dhuafa Desa Tani Program, also shared his experience. According to Ade, farmers still often get a negative stigma, even though their role is crucial for life.
“I want to raise the degree of farmers, but without Dompet Dhuafa, my ideas are only limited to concepts,” said the man familiarly called Mang Ade.
According to Mang Ade, we cannot measure poverty from what we have, such as mobile phones or motorbikes, but rather from the balance between income and expenditure.
“Alhamdulillah, the economic level of Desa Tani is very significant from year to year,” he added.
Through a series of #RamadanDariHati Talkshow events, Tira said, “This event is an opening for the public so that they know more about the picture related to the latest zakat data so that it can also increase the potential of zakat. Especially zakat fitrah later during Ramadan this year.” (Dompet Dhuafa/Awalia R)