Zakat, being the third pillar of Islam, is an act of worship fulfilled by Muslims. As an obligatory means of alms giving expected of Muslims, it also helps to alleviate poverty in society by assisting such individuals to achieve a state of financial independence. It is maintained by Muslims that the principles of zakat derived from the Sharia is expected to remain unchanged with passing time. However, in order to achieve efficiency in the administration of zakat, innovation and technology can be used even within the parameters of Sharia. For students and researchers studying Islamic economics and zakat, it is hard to obtain the contemporary application of zakat from one single textbook as the books available in the market focus on elaborating the fiqh or jurisprudence of zakat. As such, the objective of this textbook is to provide the opportunity to learn the basics of zakat and its contemporary application by highlighting the innovative practices of zakat with issues and challenges.
