IPOH, 30 Jan 2018:
The Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk) will introduce an online accounting system known as the e-Akaun Masjid (Mosque e-account) management system (SPeAK) at every mosque in the state as part of guidelines to address the issue of unused mosque collections.
JAIPk director Datuk Mohd Yusop Husin said the system, now in the final stage to be presented to the Perak Fatwa Committee before it can be implemented, would provide a clearer picture to the mosque committee members – following misunderstandings on ways to utilise the mosque collection properly.
He said the system was initiated following the finding by Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in Jan 2012 that 668 mosques in the state did not use their savings in the bank amounting to tens of millions of ringgit.
“There are mosques that have tens of thousands of ringgit in their bank accounts but refused to use the money because they want to ‘compete’ with other mosques on who collect the most (donation).
“This should not happen because every week, the collection continues to increase as Malaysians are a charitable lot. But we are in the dark on how the money is being utilised by the mosque committee members.”
Mohd Yusop said the collection was normally used to pay utility bills, guest speakers and allowances for the imam – and it still had a huge balance.
He said the system would transform the mosque accounting system to be more standardised through information and communications technology that in turn would assist JAIPk to monitor the accounts and facilitate the channeling of aid.
– Bernama