Good Governance Practiced By The Malaysian Mosque Committees In Managing Mutual Benevolence: Member’s Perception

Abstract

Mutual benevolence is commonly set up by mosque committees in Malaysia. Any community member can voluntarily join the mutual benevolence. However, compared to mutual benevolence managed by organisations, the management of mutual benevolence by the mosque committees are more unstructured. The State Islamic Religion Administration Enactment prescribes certain rules to regulate the collection, documentation and distribution of the fund. However, these rules are very brief and general. Guidelines on how to interpret and apply these rules are not available. This study intended to discover the member's perceptions on how much the mosque committees demonstrated their accountability and good governance in managing mutual benevolence in Malaysia. Using a questionnaire, this research found that a majority of members were satisfied with the mosque committees. The members agreed that the mosque committees had been transparent, competent, and provided sufficient information to the members on matters relating to the collection and benefits of mutual benevolence. However, there were still room for improvements in matters pertaining to effective communication and welcoming comments and feedback from the members. Findings from this study provide insights into how the mosque committees in Malaysia fulfil the two elements of accountability and good governance, namely the duty of care and duty of competency, to the members. These findings may help the mosque committees and the state Islamic authorities in formulating strategies and initiatives that can lead to the better management of mutual benevolence by the mosque committees in Malaysia.