Zakat Funds’ Role: Trauma Recovery and Spiritual Strengthening for Indonesian Disaster Victims

Abstract

Existing disaster response prioritizes physical aid, neglecting survivors’ psycho-spiritual needs. This qualitative library research explores using zakat to fund psychosocial interventions, analyzing models that support trauma recovery and spiritual resilience for mustaḥiq in Indonesia. Data are drawn from primary sources like scholarly literature and fatwas concerning zakat and disasters, alongside secondary reports from ‘āmil al-zakāh institutions documenting psychosocial practices. This study employs thematic content analysis to synthesize these materials. The analysis is guided by an integrated framework of maqāṣid al-syarī’ah (preservation of life and religion) and Islamic psychology. The research yields three principal findings. First, a robust jurisprudential (fiqh) legitimacy is established for channeling zakat funds into psychosocial support services, this involves reconceptualizing such interventions not as merely supplementary, but as integral to fulfilling the ḍarūriyyāt (essential necessities) of mustaḥiq (recipients) in Indonesia. Second, a distinctive zakat funded psychosocial support model is identified within the literature, one which integrates modern psychological therapies with specific spiritual reinforcement interventions, such as communal ẓikr (remembrance) and the cognitive reframing of calamity as ibtila’ (a divine trial). Third, within this framework, the role of the ‘āmil al-zakāh (zakat practitioner) undergoes a significant transformation, shifting from that of a mere logistical distributor to that of a pivotal facilitator for the spiritual and social recovery of disaster survivors in Indonesia. This research offers zakat institutions a strong theoretical basis for effective, accountable PSS programs, fostering mustaḥiq recovery and resurgence.