BAZNAS's Income Zakat Niṣāb Policy through the Lens of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah: Threshold Exposure and Potential Implications for Indonesia's Middle Class

Abstract

Introduction/Main Objectives: Income zakat adapts zakat māl to modern economic structures, yet its niṣāb remains anchored to a volatile gold standard. This study evaluates the legal-institutional basis and fiqh rationale of BAZNAS's 2026 income zakat niṣāb through maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, and examines its potential exposure to the middle class. Background Problems: In 2026, BAZNAS set the 85-gram gold niṣāb at 14-karat gold (IDR 7,640,144/month), equivalent to about 49.6 grams of pure gold. The choice may extend zakat obligation to households near the middle-class threshold whose economic position remains fragile. Novelty: Zakat scholarship has concentrated on distribution to mustahik. This study treats the obligation side and the households exposed to the threshold as equally central objects of maqāṣid analysis, and converts maqāṣid principles into explicit evaluation criteria. Research Methods: The study combines doctrinal and regulatory analysis of BAZNAS, MoRA, and MUI instruments with descriptive analysis of BPS, Bank Indonesia, and Puskas BAZNAS data, household threshold simulations, and a rubric-based assessment of alternative niṣāb standards. Finding/Results: The 14-karat reference is a technical-administrative choice within a Ḥanafī-based fiqh corridor and lies outside Indonesia's National Standard (SNI) for gold goods. At the niṣāb income, single-earner households of four or more members fall below the BPS middle-class floor, indicating structural exposure to over-inclusion. No gold-based standard performs well on year-to-year predictability. Conclusion: The study proposes a maqāṣid-based niṣāb review procedure combining a fiqh anchor, price smoothing, a household test, a basic-needs safeguard and defined institutional roles. It is offered as a conceptual policy recommendation that requires empirical validation.