ABSTRACT
In developing countries, there are many problems that can act as a barrier to economic growth. One of the major problems is the incidence of poverty. Poverty is a central problem of social and economic development. By using the Tawhidi String Relations (TSR) methodology that has been developed in this work by way of its Qur’anic conception and quantitative possibility through the methodical formalism in terms of circular causation relations, it is possible to show how such a comprehensive methodology and method can be applied to the study of poverty alleviation for socio-economic development. In this chapter, this comprehensive approach is applied to the case of circular causation interrelationships between the critical variables, namely, economic growth, investment, zakat expenditure and poverty alleviation. The incidence of poverty alleviation is measured in terms of the number of zakat recipients. Zakat is the mandatory payment by well-to-do Muslims for the alleviation of deprived social and economic conditions in society at large. It has specific rules of collection and distribution, as mentioned in the Qur’an. Among these targeted directions of zakat expenditure is poverty alleviation. Yet, in addition, the channel through which poverty alleviation is attained involves zakat expenditure to assimilate the abject poor in the growth and spending cycles of a prosperous society.
