BAITULMAL INTERACTIONS IN RESOLVING CONVERTS INHERITANCE CLAIMS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Baitulmal is a national treasury institution that is responsible for ensuring that the welfare of Muslims is taken care of without sidelining other citizens who live in an Islamic country. Therefore, its management needs to be carried out with full trust, integrity and accountability so that its aim can be achieved which can be used as a platform to raise the message of Islam. However, in the Islamic inheritance system, non-Muslimsareprevented from receiving Muslim inheritance even if they have family ties. Inheritance without Muslim heirs causes this inheritance to be handed over to Baitulmal. In light of that, the objective of this study is to identify baitulmal interaction with regards to the claims of non-Muslim family memberson the estate of deceased converts. This qualitative study via content analysis gathered data and information through document analysis and interviews. The collected data were then analyzed using a descriptive approach. The results of the study found that Baitulmal applied harmonious interaction in meeting the claim of a converts inheritance by non-Muslim heirsin Malaysia. Thus, in the context of being used as a reference, this study can contribute to unravel the misunderstanding among non-Muslim heirsregarding the role of Baitulmal in meeting their demands on the inheritance left by converts and can also be used as a form of dawah to them to understand Islam.