Assessing The Interest of Indonesian Muslim on Zakat- Evidence from Google Trends
Wiku Suryomurti

IAI Tazkia

Abstract

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the behaviour of Indonesian Muslim by assessing their interest on Zakat

Methodology - We employ descriptive data analysis of data from google trends. We also map the relative search based on region (provinces)

Finding/Results - We find that the majority of Indonesian people, most likely Muslims in our data are seeking for more information about zakat and show a pattern of a periodic behaviour every year. We confirm this behavior using internet data from Google Trend showing the attention and behavior towards both Zakat. Zakat, both zakat fitr and Zakat Penghasilan was mostly sought on the days toward Eid Fitr.

Conclusion - The muzakkis or zakat payer set their haul for zakat payment during Ramadhan.

Impact - The sharp increase of interest on zakat during Ramadhan should become an attention to amil zakat (zakat collection bodies) to optimize their effort for zakat collection.

Contributions - This study is the first to capture the Muslim interest on Zakat payment using Google Trends data. It also enhances our understanding of the religious practice and behavior of Muslim people in Indonesia

Keywords: Zakat, Interest, Attention, Behavior, Google Trends, Islamic Finance

Topic: Islamic capital