Chapter 9: Hibah giving behaviour among academicians

Abstract

Hibah comes from the Arabic term “wahaba”, which means giving without contemplation. In Islamic wealth management planning, hibah is giving to someone else during the donor’s time. Hibah can be made for wealth or property such as a home, land and financial deposit. Every gift and sadaqah is a hibah but not all hibah are gifts and sadaqah (Noordin, Ismail, Abd Rahman, Haron, & Abdullah, 2016 Haron, & Abdullah, 2016). Hibah, gift and sadaqah are unique despite their almost identical meanings. The distinction is in phrases of the goal of giving. When someone gives something to someone else because of gratitude and warmth, it is a gift, whilst if he gives something to get a reward from Allah, it is referred to as sadaqah (Noordin et al., 2016). The concept of hibah in Islamic wealth management and planning refers to the act of voluntary gifting or donation of wealth or assets by a person (the donor) to another person (the recipient) without any expectation of return or compensation. Hibah is an important tool in Islamic financial planning and is often used for estate planning, intergenerational wealth transfer, and charitable purposes (Mohamad et al., 2020).