Zakat as a Poverty Reduction Mechanism Among the Muslim Community: Case Study of Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia

Isahaque Ali,Zulkarnain A. Hatta 한국사회복지학회 2014 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.8 No.1

Poverty reduction remains the most important challenge for policy makers in Islamic communities. The World Bank (2010: Poverty profile in Muslim world, from http://www.worldbank.org)estimates that approximately 3 billion people are living in poverty and 46 million more people willcome under the income level of US$1.25 a day due to the recent global economic meltdown andslow economic growth rates. Thirty-five percent of these people are Muslims from Islamic countries. The global Muslim community has an essential role to play in addressing the injustice of globalpoverty through zakat. Zakat is an Islamic faith-based institution and is being underutilized forpoverty reduction in many of these poor Muslim countries. Since zakat constitutes one of thepillars of Islam, it is logical to assume that policy makers among Muslims should pay serious attentionto it. However, that is not the case for many Muslim countries and this paper will show thatnot all Muslim countries are seriously applying zakat in its strategy of combating poverty. Thispaper will specifically examine the role and effect of zakat in three Muslim countries (Bangladesh,Malaysia and Indonesia) providing the facts of countries that practise zakat in comparison withthose that do not.

Microfinance as a Development and Poverty Alleviation Tool in Rural Bangladesh: A Critical Assessment

Isahaque Ali,Zulkarnain A. Hatta,Azlinda Azman,Shariful Islam 한국사회복지학회 2017 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.11 No.1

Poverty is multidimensional in nature and exists in every part of the world. Microfinance is considered one of the most important programs to achieve poverty reduction, particularly in Bangladesh. It has been estimated that nearly 45% of Bangladesh’s population lives below the poverty line. This qualitative research study was conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of microfinance programs and the contributing factors to the high-level of poverty among microfinance beneficiaries in the district of Bogra, Bangladesh. Study findings indicated that microfinance programs were ineffective as a result of high interest rates; insufficient loans; unproductive use of loans; corruption and poor skills of microfinance institution staff; weekly repayment schedules; and physical and mental harassment of poor women. Additionally, the lack of employment opportunities, education, healthcare facilities and social safety nets; natural disasters; the dowry system; and the rising cost of basic daily needs have also contributed to chronic poverty.

Transforming the Local Capacity on Natural Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladeshi Communities: A Social Work Perspective

Isahaque Ali,Zulkarnain A. Hatta,Azlinda Azman 한국사회복지학회 2014 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.8 No.1

Bangladesh has been a severe victim of its various sporadic natural disasters—flood, cyclone andstorm surge, flash flood, drought, tornado, riverbank erosion, and landslide. Familial and societallives and security of people are being seriously disturbed by these natural calamities every year. They also bring deadly damage to the economy and general environment of the country. Naturaldisasters cannot be pre-empted at all, but their damage can be mitigated with effective responses. Social work has been a profession notably known for its intervention of people’s vulnerability tonatural and man-made disasters. This concept paper discusses relevant intervention strategies andapproaches to transform the local capacity of communities on natural disaster risk reduction inlight of the social work profession.

Women’s Empowerment or Disempowerment through Microfinance: Evidence from Bangladesh

Isahaque Ali,Zulkarnain A. Hatta 한국사회복지학회 2012 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.6 No.2

Women’s empowerment has been one of the declared goals of Bangladesh’s national developmentprogram, and microfinance is playing a leading role in bringing about the realization of this program. Since one of the intended goals of microfinance is to empower women, this concept paperattempts to investigate the success rate — does microfinance truly empower or is it a case of disempoweringthrough “empowerment”? The effectiveness of microfinance today has been a debatablesubject in the economic and social work realms, in which it is considered a viable tool for women’sempowerment. Although there are scores of studies that demonstrate that microfinance has a significantimpact on livelihood and improves the living standards of women by reducing poverty, thispaper contests those claims.

Professional and Functional Alternative Social Workers: A Case Study of Malaysia

Zulkarnain Ahmad Hatta,Isahaque Ali,Jeevasuthan Subramaniam,Salithamby A. Rauff 한국사회복지학회 2014 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.8 No.2

The objective of this study was to compare “professional” (PW) and “functional alternative” (FA)social workers. The findings suggested that there were no significant differences between PWs andFAs in intervention, evaluation methods, work ethics, and values. The PWs, in clients’ eyes, werebetter at delivering services, while FAs’ services were more satisfactory to the clients. While PWswere supposed to be “professional,” FAs were more “professional” than PWs in their performancedespite their lack of recognition as “professional social workers”. These critical findings shouldencourage academics and practitioners for further discussion on conceptual implications of bothpractices and expand future research.

The challenges and coping strategies of single mothers caring for children with special needs: Experiences from Kashmir, India

Bashir Aadil,Tariq Afnan,Khan Aimon,Ali Isahaque,Azman Azlinda 한국사회복지학회 2023 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.17 No.1

Families play a significant role in the development of their children. Nearly 16% of children in the industrialized world live in single-parent households, which are mostly comprised of single mothers. Although motherhood is the most beautiful feeling a woman cherishes, this experience can be challenging when the woman has to raise their special-needs child on her own, without the support of her spouse or partner. This study aims to understand the challenges and coping strategies of single mothers while raising their special-needs children. To this end, in-depth case interviews were conducted with three single mothers selected purposively from the Srinagar area in Kashmir, India. The results revealed that multiple roles and responsibilities had an adverse effect on the psychological well-being of single mothers who had to deal with the financial burden of caring for their child's condition, including expenses for doctor visits, special therapies and medication, among other. In addition, they had to expe-rience the social pressure and stigmatization attached to being a single mother. The most widely employed coping strategies include support from family and friends, reli-gious faith, and self-coping. The study recommends the creation of welfare packages like free counseling, stipend support, inclusive education, free medical treatment, and therapies for Children with Special Needs (CWSNs) and their mothers.

Psychosocial stress and trauma during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from Bangladesh

Hossain Md. Ismail,Mehedi Nafiul,Ahmad Iftakhar,Ali Isahaque,Azman Azlinda 한국사회복지학회 2021 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.15 No.2

The COVID-19 outbreak has become a global health crisis affecting both the physical and mental health of people across the world. Likewise, the people of Bangladesh are going through a menacing mental health catastrophe with the outbreak of coronavirus that resulting in stress and trauma. Hence, this situation is altering people's lifestyles and generating complexities in psychological well-being. The study was based on the review of published articles and media reports related to stress and trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. A total of 10 peer-reviewed articles and 45 newspaper reports were included following an extensive literature search. The contents were searched on Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, local online newspapers, social networking sites, and different webpages and published articles in different journals on COVID-19 from March 5 to October 25, 2020. The review study finds that the mental health of people in Bangladesh has severely been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus. All of the government, voluntary, and civil organizations need to give further emphasis on psychosocial and bereavement counseling in order to support those experiencing mental shocks resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. There is the need to strengthen more consultative and collaborative efforts from all public health experts, social workers, psychologists, and policymakers in doing so. Social workers in this context will be able to make meaningful contributions in supporting those affected people to better adjust to the challenging situation.

Social assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: Does faith-based approach matters?

Salahuddin Abul Fazal Md,Hossain Md. Ismail,Ali Isahaque,Azman Azlinda 한국사회복지학회 2023 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.17 No.1

This paper aimed to examine the role of faith- based organizations (FBOs) in the dis-tribution of social assistance (SA) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. The paper adopts a qualitative case-study approach to explore the best practices in the distribution of SA by five (5) organizations including FBOs, governmental organiza-tions (GOs), Non- governmental organizations (NGOs), political groups, and private voluntary groups. In this study, 14 beneficiaries of SA were selected by stratified pro-portionate random sampling method, and five (5) key personnel were selected pur-posively based on their experiences in the management of SA distribution. The study found that “no- move, no touch” approach followed by FBOs is more likely to establish human rights and social justice and reduce the transmission of diseases. In contrast to the modern idea, which undermines the faith- based charity, the study proved that faith- based charity is gaining attraction as an effective approach combating global pandemic. The findings of this paper will be useful for policymakers, voluntary service workers, GO, and NGO workers to ensure the distribution of SA in a more productive and disciplined way during and after an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social work practices in community governance: A systematic literature review

Wenmei Guo,Yahaya Mohd Haizzan,Ali Isahaque 한국사회복지학회 2024 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.18 No.1

As a significant social subject force, social work plays a unique role in the new pattern of community governance. Through continuous practice and exploration, it has accumulated particular practical experience and theoretical foundation with considerable application value, which provides good references and references for the study. This study is based on a review of published articles that reflect 10 years of research on social work participation in community governance. After an extensive literature review, a total of 24 peer‐reviewed articles were included. These were searched among papers published in different journals of Web of Science and Scopus databases on social work practices in community governance for the period of 2011–2021. A systematic review of literature studies allows the researcher to get a more comprehensive picture of the state of research in the field, especially the research results and findings that have been made. In the process, literature gaps, challenges, impediments, and possibilities for future research directions were examined. In this context, a framework and insight for future researchers on social work engagement in community governance regarding content areas, theoretical models, outcomes, methodologies, and evaluation tools are provided.