Philanthropy and Legal Aid: A Case Study

Abstract

Cases in Syariah Courts in the country show a consistent increase of over 100,000 cases every five years. The cases filed in Syariah Courts cover several parts, namely Faraid cases, MAL cases, Criminal cases and Appeal cases. The divorce data among Muslims in Malaysia is quite worrying. According to sources, Muslim divorce is 80 percent more than divorce among non -Muslims, while the Muslim population is only 61.3 of the total population in Malaysia. The implications of divorce will usually involve legal issues such as alimony, mutaah, matrimonial property, child alimony, debt in marriage and so on. Similarly, in the event of the death of a spouse, the legal question that arises is inheritance, hibah, will, faraid and waqf. However, there is no denying that many Muslims in Malaysia still do not know about Shariah law, especially those involving law and court procedures. Therefore, advice, consultation and legal services are very much needed for a solution, especially if they wish to take the case to court. To that end, some universities in Malaysia have taken the initiative by setting up Syariah legal clinics. The author's study found that Syariah legal clinics have existed in several universities in Malaysia. Unfortunately, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), one of the oldest universities in Malaysia, does not yet have such a legal clinic. Therefore, this study aims to examine the needs of UiTM staff for the services of Syariah legal clinics. The quantitative method was selected in this study by using a questionnaire instrument involving a total of 34 samples of a pilot study that were randomly selected from UiTM staff. The finding shows that UiTM staff agreed for the establishment of Shariah legal clinic to cater their needs. It is hoped that the findings of this study can be used as a basis for the establishment of a Shariah law clinic in UiTM which serves as philanthropy to take care of the welfare of staff in terms of advisory services and legal consultancy.