Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / In a country like South Africa, with a history of racial discrimination and man-made social inequalities, many NGOs and FBOs play a crucial and important role in socio-economic development and in narrowing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. As one of the nongovernmental organisations, The South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) development projects/programmes have played an important role in the areas of poverty alleviation, skills development, education and disaster relief. In line with the participatory/people-centred theory of community development and conceptual arguments, this study was used to examine the nature of participatory community development at the South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) in Cape Town, South Africa. Qualitative research methodology was applied and measurement of the level of community participation was done using a variety of instruments. This study is focused on the SANZAF's community development project in the Manenberg area in the Cape Flats. The analysis involved examining the nature and level of community participation in the project needs, planning, implementation and decision-making phases. Thereafter, the results of the research prompted general observation and provided some recommendations to SANZAF and other FBOs involved. The research findings show that the SANZAF's development projects/programmes have played an important role in terms of community development. They have been developed in response to the needs of local communities and are implemented to mobilise local resources to support the poor and needy. The study also indicated that SANZAF enjoys a strong linkage with local mosques and other development actors at the community level. However, the results of the study also indicated that the level of community participation in planning, decision making and implementation is low in the case study area. Meanwhile, the beneficiaries did not show a clear understanding of aspects such as participation, empowerment and ownership. Finally, a recommendation is made for genuine community participation at the grassroots level as this will contribute to beneficiary's empowerment, capacity building and the core ingredients for selfreliance and project sustainability in community development activities.

The issues of zakah and interest for IFIs have been highlighted for several years and attracted many arguments among Islamic scholars and public. The increasing public interest on the Islamic Banking since 1970s has been driven by the increasing sensitivity among Muslims to the relationship between religion and economic activities. With the emergence of IFIs, Muslims community has demanded for an establishment of an accounting body to develop a set of accounting standards that adhere to the Islamic tenets, hence AAOIFI was established. However, the journey of AAOFI in achieving such objective has not been smooth. This paper intended to study the effectiveness of AAOIFI in dealing with the issues of zakah and riba for IFIs by examining the disclosure practice of 25 IFIs worldwide. Based on the analysis conducted, it is concluded that the extents of disclosure by the IFIs are much lower than the AAOIFI requirements. The study also found that leverage and origin factors might contribute to the level disclosures of zakah and financial products. In addition, the test performed also revealed that the adopters of AAOIFI do provide more disclosure as compared to the non-adopters. However, the mean result is relatively low to suggest full compliance with the AAOIFI standards.

The issues of zakah and interest for IFIs have been highlighted for several years and attracted many arguments among Islamic scholars and public. The increasing public interest on the Islamic Banking since 1970s has been driven by the increasing sensitivity among Muslims to the relationship between religion and economic activities. With the emergence of IFIs, Muslims community has demanded for an establishment of an accounting body to develop a set of accounting standards that adhere to the Islamic tenets, hence AAOIFI was established. However, the journey of AAOFI in achieving such objective has not been smooth. This paper intended to study the effectiveness of AAOIFI in dealing with the issues of zakah and riba for IFIs by examining the disclosure practice of 25 IFIs worldwide. Based on the analysis conducted, it is concluded that the extents of disclosure by the IFIs are much lower than the AAOIFI requirements. The study also found that leverage and origin factors might contribute to the level disclosures of zakah and financial products. In addition, the test performed also revealed that the adopters of AAOIFI do provide more disclosure as compared to the non-adopters. However, the mean result is relatively low to suggest full compliance with the AAOIFI standards.

The issues of zakah and interest for IFIs have been highlighted for several years and attracted many arguments among Islamic scholars and public. The increasing public interest on the Islamic Banking since 1970s has been driven by the increasing sensitivity among Muslims to the relationship between religion and economic activities. With the emergence of IFIs, Muslims community has demanded for an establishment of an accounting body to develop a set of accounting standards that adhere to the Islamic tenets, hence AAOIFI was established. However, the journey of AAOFI in achieving such objective has not been smooth. This paper intended to study the effectiveness of AAOIFI in dealing with the issues of zakah and riba for IFIs by examining the disclosure practice of 25 IFIs worldwide. Based on the analysis conducted, it is concluded that the extents of disclosure by the IFIs are much lower than the AAOIFI requirements. The study also found that leverage and origin factors might contribute to the level disclosures of zakah and financial products. In addition, the test performed also revealed that the adopters of AAOIFI do provide more disclosure as compared to the non-adopters. However, the mean result is relatively low to suggest full compliance with the AAOIFI standards.