Understanding of the Islamic Debt Concept Among Government Servants

In today’s modern phenomenon, having debt has become the norm in life. The modern and latest of the current transaction such as the introduction of credit cards and instalment payment scheme facilities have facilitated a debt society. Additionally, with the attractions and promotion of financial institutions that offer debt financing scheme which has influenced the society being trapped into the midst of serious debt, especially for debtors who are over-lust and do not have a proper plan in making debt. In 2010, the Malaysian community household debt is the highest in Asia and total RM7.3 billion for non-payment loan household debt in 2014. In 2009, a total of 1086 public servants had been declared bankrupt by the Insolvency Department. The majority of 72.74% are male employees, while only 27.26% are female employees. The existence of bankruptcy cases not only has tarnished the image of the public sector but it also greatly affects the individuals involved. The bankrupt employees will lose their pension benefit when they are retired. This phenomenon is very shocking as the concept of Islamic debt has been discussed thoroughly in Islamic jurisprudence. It is the main foundation and guidance to the Muslim debtor and creditor. With that, a study should be conducted to identify the level of understanding of the public servant regarding the concept and ethics of debt prescribed in Islam. This paper will discuss the comparison level understanding of government servant in UiTM regarding the debt concept in Islam. Data in this paper is obtained from the questionnaire involving 690 respondents in UiTM Shah Alam, Pahang and Penang, which consists of academic and administrative staff who are Muslims. Data is analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Three variables, namely the location, grade and level of education were analysed with the level understanding of ‘Akhlaq Mahmudah’. The findings showed that the level of education and grade were significant differences in the understanding of the concept of ‘Akhlaq Mahmudah’.