A PRELIMINARY STUDY TOWARDS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF MOSQUES

Abstract

Every religion has its own organization and method for handling all issues pertaining to religion in the society. A mosque, or "Masjid" as it is known in Arabic, is a place of worship for Muslims where they can offer prayers and engage in other religious activities. Mosques typically get funding for those operations from a variety of sources, including public donations, fundraising, "waqf" from the government and many more. Building public trust and protecting the mosque's financial resources both depend on the proper management of its fund. For this reason, it's critical that mosques implement sound financial management procedures in order to manage finances efficiently. 23 respondents from 14 mosques in the district of Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, completed a questionnaire to provide information for this study about their financial management procedures. Surprisingly, the results of the descriptive analysis indicate that 79% of mosques still handle their finances manually rather than using an automated accounting system. It appears that in order to support the fund management system in a methodical and effective manner, a tailored accounting system should be created to satisfy the requirements of the mosque administration.