“Say, He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.”

2.  Belief in Malaikah

The second pillar is to believe in Allah’s Malaikah. They are not his children as some may think. They were created from light and were created before humans for the purpose of worshipping Allah.

Malaikah do not sleep, eat or suffer from illnesses. It is crucial to believe in the Malaikah, as they keep a record of our deeds. Some of the other duties of angles include: blowing the trumpet on judgment day, taking people’s souls (i.e. Malaikah of death) and to be the keepers of heaven and hell.

“O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.”
3. Belief in Kutub

The third pillar is to believe in the Kutub which delivered to the nations by the messengers. Allah revealed Kutub to his messengers as a form of guidance and proof for mankind. Among these Kutub, is the Quran, which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Most of the messengers of Allah were sent to a specific nation except Prophet Muhammad, who was sent to guide all of mankind. It is a duty of Muslims to send salaams (Peace and Blessings of Allah) when mentioning the names of any of the Prophets.

5. Belief in Qiyamah

Muslims attest to the truth of everything Allah or his messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said about death.

Allah has not created his creation in vain. He created men and jinn to worship him and promised paradise as a reward to those who obey him and his messengers, and promised hellfire to those who disobey him or his messengers.

Allah has set a certain period for the whole universe, whose end will be the final hour. During the final hour, humans will be questioned about their deeds in this world. Those deeds will be weighed for them. One whose good deeds overweigh his evil deeds will prosper, while whose bad deeds outweigh his good ones will be condemned to hellfire – unless he died in the state of Islam. Then, Allah would either forgive him or punish him, and eventually, he would enter paradise.

6. Belief in Qada' and Qadr

Doom (Qadhaa’) is the general decree of Allah that every human shall die, whereas a divine decree (Qadr) is a particular decree of Allah or the execution of Qadhaa’, that a certain person is to die at a particular time and place. Hence, believing in this pillar entails believing that Allah has created everything and has foreordained its proper measure.

Zakah is the philanthropic practise of Islamic almsgiving. It is the third pillars of religion in Islam that promotes the socio-economic growth of human well-being. This practise is a sort of financial worship to express gratitude for the material grace of Allah SWT.

The purpose of zakah distribution as stated in the Quran is to insure that “of their money, there is a right of the destitute and the (needy) beggar” (Quran 51:19) so that “wealth does not continue to circulate exclusively among your rich” (Quran 59:7). (Quran 59:7).

It is also crucial to remember that zakah is a compulsory transfer to the society and not only a voluntary deed of charity from people (Ahmed, 2004, p. 26). (Ahmed, 2004, p. 26). Paying zakah is obligatory of every adult Muslim who possesses wealth of a particular minimum amount.

If we study more deeply about the meaning of zakah, we will obtain the conclusion that this may be considered as one manner of practising the spirit of Pancasila, the Indonesian philosophical foundation. There are numerous aims of zakah that are tied to these five elements of our national ideology.

Al-Qardawi (1986) says that zakah distribution should be improving and growing the Tauhid (The Oneness of Allah), Iman (believes) and Taqwa (degree of righteousness) to Allah SWT. As we can see, this ultimate purpose of zakah fits with the first premise of Pancasila, belief in the one Supreme God.

Moreover, this instrument is also thought to be a linchpin to propel Muslim civilisation up to its ‘golden’ age throughout the Middle Ages. It is viewed as a potent instrument to eliminate poverty and redistribute income more evenly throughout the Muslim world. History reveals there was so much affluence at that period, it was even impossible to find an eligible zakah recipient.

Some Islamic economists believe that zakah is an efficient instrument to reduce poverty by referring to Islamic history. Two most notable references are from the reigns of Umar bin Khattab and Umar bin Abdul Aziz where they were unable to identify suitable zakah receivers as the impoverished were turned rich by the zakah they got previously (Ahmed, 2004). (Ahmed, 2004). Due to their efficiency in battling poverty in society, their eras were seen as 'golden' periods of social justice in Islam. For example, under the reign of Umar bin Abdul Aziz (717-720 AD), poverty was eradicated in just three years. This demonstrates that there was a beneficial strategy for managing zakah that aided in the advancement of their civilisation.

There are two reasons why zakah was documented as an effective weapon capable of establishing social justice during the two Umars' separate reigns. To begin, it was owing to the effective administration of both caliphs, and to continue, it is due to the nature of the disbursement's management. The first reason has been the subject of numerous books and even a film. What's fascinating here is how the latter argument, in comparison to the taxed-based national budget, could rationally contribute to social fairness. The appropriate allocation of the national budget is between 30% and 40% for the civil service and 60% to 70% for the public service. However, several districts and provinces in Indonesia continue to confront budget imbalances, with some districts and provinces seeing a worse ratio of 60:40 for civil service and public service, respectively.

Meanwhile, in zakah, there are eight distinct categories of receivers, with only one-eighth designated for amil (civil service). This indicates that, in accordance with fiqh (Islamic doctrine), 87.5 percent of zakah profits must be given for public service, while just 12.5% is set aside for amil. Baznas even limits the proportion of funds collected for civil service to 10% under the existing policy. With the majority of funds, up to 90% of zakah charged, being distributed to civil service with a focus on the social sector, we can plainly see how successfully zakah can reduce poverty in Indonesia if managed optimally.

On the basis of this fact, it may be argued that zakah management can be optimised in order to further our country's higher purpose of life, as expressed in Pancasila's second principle, a just and civilised humanity.

To manage zakah optimally, the government should also consider its function as an income tax deduction (tax credit), as practised in Malaysia and provisioned in Article 192 of Law No. 11 Year 2006 concerning Aceh Government but not implemented until now due to conflict with another provision of Article 22 of Law No. 23 of 2011 on Zakah Management. In many industrialised countries, the policy of imposing income tax deductions from charitable contributions rather than deductions from taxable income is also widely practised. Paying philanthropy for social causes is a more effective stimulant for citizens.

Additionally, the responsibility of zakah is inextricably linked to the concept of brotherhood (ukhuwah Islamiah). This way, social cohesiveness can be strengthened within the context of Indonesia's unity (third principle of Pancasila).

Consistent with the concepts of equality and social justice, it also bears a strong resemblance to the final pillar of Pancasila, namely social justice for all Indonesians.

When the three factors outlined above (effective administration, nature of disbursement management, and optimal support for government policy) are combined and integrated, zakah as a Pancasila practise can serve as a critical means of achieving the ultimate principle of social justice for all Indonesian citizens.