The Awareness of Wasiyyah (Will Writing) Practice Among Muslims

Asset redistribution is one of the areas that is very important in Islamic financial planning. The objective of the asset redistribution is to ensure the smooth transition or transfer of the asset of the deceased to the beneficiaries. Among the methods that can be adopted in asset redistribution by Muslim is through wasiyyah (Islamic will). In Malaysia, it is reported RM42 billion of assets that need to be distributed to 500,000 beneficiaries has been frozen due to the absence of legitimate wills. It shows that the awareness toward asset redistribution by Malaysians, especially, Muslims toward wasiyyah practice is still very low. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the awareness of Muslims toward wasiyyah practice. A survey via questionnaire is carried out with the target samples of 81 respondents residing in Kedah. The study will examine the relationships between awareness of wasiyyah practice with independent variables such as knowledge, life events, and institutional factors. The data is analyzed using binomial logistic regression. Based on the findings, it shows that the most influential factor that influence the awareness of wasiyyah practice is knowledge. Hence, the more their knowledge, the higher the level of awareness of them toward wasiyyah practice.