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be paid zakat or the precentage of zakat that must be
paid. However he infatq is related to the necessity
and condition of the person in need (Munir, 2011).
Shadaqah literally means strength. In the
terminology of fiqh, shadaqah is defined as a giving
in order to achieve purely the pleasure of Allah.
Taimiyah in his opinion defines shadaqah as
something that is given to expect the pleasure of
Allah which is done purely on the basis of religion
and worship without expecting anything or any
exchange from anybody. The giving is meant to
serve those who need. (Munir, 2011).
In Sharia Accounting, zakat is defined as
property that must be withdrawn by muzakki in
accordance with sharia regulation to be given to
those who are entitled to receive it (mustahiq). Zakat
is a sharia obligation that must be transferred by
muzakki to mustahiq, either directly or through the
amil institutions. On the other hand, the infaq/assests
donation is given voluntarily by the owner, either
with limited/determined and unrestricted
distribution. Infaq and shadaqah are voluntary
donations, whether determined or undetermined
distribution by the donors (Board of SAS, 2016).
In order to achieve its objectives and functions
optimally, it is necessary for the officer in charge on
zakat handling to withdraw the zakat from muzakki
and distributing it to mustahik. This is evident from
the command of zakat in QS Taubah 103 which
states; "Take zakat from some of their property, with
that charity you cleanse and purify them and pray for
them. Surely your prayer (becomes) the tranquility
of the soul for them. Allah is all-hearer and all-
knowing ". Regarding the command in the verse, it
is clear that the verse is not addressed to muzakki but
to the other parties [amil zakat administrators].
Moreover, in QS at-Taubah verse 60, it is also
mentioned the existence of amil as the party entitled
to receive a share of zakat.
Hafidhuddin (2002) explained that amil zakat is
those who carried out all activities related to zakat
management, starts from the collection, maintenance
until the distribution process, as well as
administrative activities related to the cashflow of
the zakat funds. Sabiq (2008) explained that amil
zakat is a person who appointed by the government
or government representative to work on the zakat
collection from the rich people. Thus, amil does not
only manage zakat, but also has to obtain the
legitimacy from the government, without the
legitimacy then it cannot be called as amil.
In the Indonesian context, the zakat management
institution that represents amil is the National Zakat
Agency [BAZNAS] with its organizational
hierarchy; BAZNAS in Provincial Level and
BAZNAS in Regency / city level. This is because
only BAZNAS has the mandate to manage zakat
from the government. The Amil Zakat Institute
[LAZ] which established by the community is an
institution that assists BAZNAS in performing its
functions, utilizing zakat, infaq and shodaqah to be
more optimal (Indonesian Law No. 23 of 2011).
2.2 Zakat Management Accountability
Accountability is translated into Indonesian
language as a state of accountability, circumstances
can be asked for answers (Enchols and Sadili, 1997).
In the perspective of Agency Theory, accountability
is a logical consequence of the relationship between
the owner [principal] and management [agent]. The
owner has given a full mandate to the management
to manage the organization, so as a consequence, the
management conveys accountability to the owner for
the mandate received (Nikmatuniayah et.al, 2017).
Accountability is a social relationship between
organizational actors that involves take and give
reasons to perform or an obligation to explain and
justify behavior.
In a manager's perspective, accountability is a
process of providing information to explain and
justify the fairness of any action or inaction and
results. This principle ensures the owners that they
have the opportunity to acknowledge by whom and
how decisions are made and the reasons that
triggered the decision making and what the results
are. Thus, the fulfillness of accountability requires
the existence of information transparency which
refers to the openness of the [agent] manager to the
owner to get the valid information and the
confidentiality of the company as the working
element (Sudjali, 2017).
In Islam, despite having accountability as secular
social relations, it also has a sacred relationship. The
s only false,
possession
are essentially entrusted [trustworthy]. Humans have
wealth because God entrusts the property to humans
to be managed so that useful to life. Without any
mandate, humans do not possess any property. Thus,
the position of human being is only an agent while
the principal is Allah. As the consequence as a
manager, then humans must follow Islamic sharia
which is Allah's provision. Furthermore, in the
framework of managing assets, humans mandate
assets to the others or cooperate with each other.
The existence and success of the organization as
an agent in carrying out the mandate given by the
Digitizing Zakat Management in Improving LAZ Accountability
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