Islamic estate planning in Malaysia : the dilemma

Abstract EN

Islamic estate planning is very important in the life of any Muslims.

indeed, those Muslims who pass away and do not have proper planning on their estate indirectly breaching the bequest guidance as stated in the Qur'an which are the main source of reference for a Muslim life.

regrettably, the noble spirit of Islam is not well accepted, and many are not concerned with arranging their estate thus triggering enormous family debates and increase the unclaimed property after the deceased’s death.

the present-day affairs of Islamic estate planning in Malaysia is still not encouraging despite the efforts by relevant institutions and industry players to expand the industry.

the initiative was undertaken by the government to form a national institution known as Amanah Raya Berhad and followed by participation of private Islamic estate planning companies to provide estates planning related services.

however, thus far only 700,000 individuals have declared wasiyyah as compared to the majority of Muslims among the 30 million Malaysians.

the outstanding differences among subscribers of the services and who do not subscribe, open up to a real dilemma within the area of Islamic estate planning.

this is the subject that motivates the researcher to study the issues in Islamic estate planning in Malaysia.

the purpose of this study is to examine the dilemma faced by the industry practitioners.

this research is qualitative in nature relying on the existing literatures from internet website, document analysis and library literature.

the scope of this study is relevant and pertinent to the overall Islamic estate planning industry development thus, intended to put forward recommendations for enhancement of Islamic estate planning in Malaysia including the possibility of establishing shari’ah advisory framework for the Islamic estate planning institutions.