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Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  87

CONSTRUCTION OF CIBEST MODEL AS MEASUREMENT 
OF POVERTY AND WELFARE INDICES FROM ISLAMIC 

PERSPECTIVE

Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti1

First draft: October, 3rd 2014, Revision: December, 5th 2014, Accepted: December, 20th  
2014

1  Center of Islamic Business and Economic Studies, Bogor Agricultural University, Jl. Raya 
Darmaga Kampus IPB Darmaga, Bogor

Email : irfan_beik@ipb.ac.id, arsyianti@ipb.ac.id

Abstract. Construction of CIBEST Model as Measurement of Poverty and 
Welfare Indices from Islamic Perspective. One of the major challenges faced 
by most of the Islamic countries is poverty. This paper attempts to construct the 
concept of poverty and welfare standards based on Islamic perspective.The study 
tries to cover both material and spiritual dimensions. These standards are based 
on CIBEST Quadrant, which is divided into four quadrants: welfare quadrant 
(I), material poverty quadrant (II), spiritual poverty quadrant (III) and absolute 
poverty quadrant (IV). Determination of these quadrants is resulted from criteria 
and indicators of basic material needs and basic spiritual needs. By using household 
as unit of analysis, this study is able to developCIBEST Model comprising welfare 
index, material poverty index, spiritual poverty index, and absolute poverty 
index. Mathematical formula and illustration of the indices are also elaborated to 
strengthen the concept.

Keywords: Basic Needs Approach, Poverty, Welfare Indices

Abstrak. Konstruksi atas Model CIBEST Sebagai Pengukuran atas 
Kemiskinan dan Kesejahteraan dalam Perspektif Islam. Salah satu 
permasalahan penting yang dihadapi negara-negara Islam adalah kemiskinan. 
Tulisan ini berupaya untuk mengkonstruksi konsep kemiskinan dan kesejahteraan 
menurut perspektif ajaran Islam. Penelitian yang dilakukan,berupaya untuk 
mengkombinasikan dimensi material dan dimensi sipiritual. Alat ukur yng 
digunakandalam studi ini didasarkan pada kuadran CIBEST yang terbagi 
menjadi empat kuadran, yaitu : kuadran sejahtera (I), kuadran kemiskinan 
material (II), kuadran kemiskinan spiritual (III), dan kuadran kemiskinan 
absolut (IV).Penetapan kuadran ini dibuat berdasarkan kriteria dan indikator 
kebutuhan dasar material dan kebutuhan dasar spiritual. Dengan menggunakan 
rumahtangga sebagai unit analisis, penelitian ini berhasil memformulasikan 
model CIBEST yang terdiri dari indeks kesejahteraan, indeks kemiskinan 
material, indeks kemiskinan spiritual dan indeks kemiskinan absolut. Formula 
matematika dan ilustrasi dari setiap indeks juga dielaborasi secara detil untuk 
memperkuat konsep yang ada.

Kata kunci: Pendekatan Kebutuhan Dasar, Kemiskinan, Indeks Kesejahteraan



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 88

Introduction

Poverty remains a major issue faced by the Islamic world presently. The term 
‘poverty’, however, could not be defined in a single term, which prevails across 
the globe. It is because of the differences in many aspects, such as demographical 
factors, geographical location, cultural diversity, etc., although various scholars have 
attempted to define poverty from different angles and perspectives. They also have 
tried to accommodate these differences in their definition of poverty. Debate on this 
issue still continues including debate on measurement and criteria used to define 
poverty.    

Despite these difficulties in constructing single definition of poverty, real 
practices taking place in different countries seem to provide the fact that poverty is 
always related with inability of certain group of people to fulfill their basic needs. This 
group of people is called the poor. Definition of the poor is always connected with 
a standard of measurement called poverty line. It is a line that is measured in terms 
of minimum income, which must be earned by a person. If a person earns income 
below the line, he will fall under the poor category. For example, in Indonesia, the 
National Board of Statistics (known as Badan Pusat Statistik– abbreviated as BPS) 
has determined poverty line to be equal to Rp 293,000 (USD 25.04) per capita per 
month in 2014. The number of the poor living below the line is estimated to reach 
28.55 million people (National Board of Statistics, 2014). This poverty line may 
change usually on annual basis. Similarly, the World Bank use USD 2 per capita per 
day as basic standard of absolute poverty, meaning that, earning income below the 
standard will put someone in the category of absolute poor.

Islam actually pays great concern on the issue of poverty. As a comprehensive 
religion covering all aspects of life, Islam has clear rules and guidance regarding this 
matter. There are many ayah and hadith which can be made as source of reference. 
Similarly, there are a large number of literatures discussing the concept of poverty 
from Islamic perspective, which are written by classical as well as contemporary 
Islamic scholars.  

It is interesting to note that most of the discussion on poverty from Islamic 
perspective is based on the concept of maqasid al shariah. The term ‘maqasid’, which 
is the plural form of the word ‘maqsad’, reflects the basic objectives of revelation of 
Islamic teaching. Chapra (2008) states that the maqasid al shariahhave been either 
stated directly from the Quran or inferred from these by a number of scholars. All 
of these address the basic objective of the shariah, which is to serve the interests of 
all human beings and to save them from harm (Chapra, 2008). 

One of the most prominent classical Islamic scholars in the history, Imam 



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  89

al-Ghazali, has classified maqasid al shariah into five major categories. Those are 
protection of faith (hifz al-din), protection of human self (hifz al-nafs), protection of 
intellect (hifz al-aql), protection of posterity (hifz al-nasl) and protection of wealth 
(hifz al-maal). These are basic elements in promoting the well-being of the people. 
Imam al-Shatibi furthermore classified the maqasid into three broad categories, i.e. 
daruriyyat (essentials), hajiyyat (supporting) and tahsiniyyat (embellishment). To al-
Shatibi, al-Ghazali’s five safeguarding fall under daruriyyat category. 

This paper attempts to construct this standard of measurement in the 
form of welfare index and poverty index. These indices will be based on certain 
criteria, which are derived from the Quran and Sunnah and compared with current 
practices in the contemporary Islamic economies. The paper comprises five sections 
including introduction as the first one. Second section shall elaborate overview 
on the conceptual framework of poverty from Islamic perspective. Section three 
discusses existing models of poverty standard and measurement by taking the case 
of Indonesia. Indonesia is purposively selected since it represents the most populous 
Muslim country in the world. Section four proposes model of welfare and poverty 
indices as standard of measurement combined with illustration on how to use those 
indices. This section will be started by elaborating conceptual foundation of the 
proposed model. Last section concludes the paper.

The Poverty Concep on Islamic Approach

As mentioned in the previous section poverty basically is a multidimensional 
concept. Shirazi (1994), Narrayan (2000), and Pramanik (1993, 1998) are of the 
view that poverty basically is an imprecise term. It is not possible to capture the idea 
of poverty based on unidirectional approach. They suggest that poverty is typically 
used to refer to a situation where individuals do not have sufficient resources to 
cover their basic needs to lead a reasonably comfortable life, not only by economic 
but also by social, psychological and even spiritual dimensions.

Suharto (2009) argues that while some economists discuss the concept of 
poverty based on subjective and comparative approach, some others favor moral and 
evaluative approach. Poverty being mostly associated with economic dimension, it 
is, indeed, related to other dimensions including social, cultural, institutional, and 
structural. Al-Ghazali (1980) defines poverty as a state of not being able to fulfil 
one’s needs. Inability to satisfy what is not needed is not poverty. If the needed items 
are available and affordable by a person, then he will not be treated as poor person. 
Al-Ghazali divides poverty into two parts: first, poverty in relation to material needs; 
and second, poverty in relation to spiritual needs. Similar argument is also made by 
Ahmed (2004). He says that poverty does not only represent deprivation of goods 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 90

and services, but also lack of poverty in spirit. Even Rehman (1980) argues that in 
Islam individuals can improve their spiritual life by improving their material life.

Al-Ghazali further states that each and every being that exists is poor, except 
for the eternal being, Allah. This is the meaning of the verse (47:38) “wa Allah al-
ghaniyywaantum al- fuqara”, which means ‘and Allah is rich and you all are poor’. To 
him, this is an absolute poverty (faqrmutlaq), which has both material and spiritual 
dimensions. In response to Al-Ghazali’s argument, Sadeq (1992) says that the term 
faqrmutlaqin contemporary economics refers to two different meanings. First, it refers 
to a state below some absolute level of income that could purchase some minimal 
level of sustenance. Second, it refers to poverty of the individuals or households in 
absolute terms without reference to their relative condition as compared to others. 
In this sense absolute poverty is used against relative poverty.

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jauziyyah (1293 – 1350 AD), on the other hand, denies the 
relationship between poverty and zuhd, an important Islamic value misconstrued as 
renunciation of wealth and the good things of life. He insists that zuhd is not poverty. 
It is an attitude of mind which purifies soul from the lust for worldly things and 
from making them the objectives of life. He argues that affluence is more preferable 
provided it accompanies gratitude to Allah and the fulfilment of one’s obligations 
toward fellow human beings (Islahi, 1992). 

The concept of poverty is indeed determined by the definition of the poor 
(faqir) and the needy (miskeen). Hence, Shirazi (1994) argues that the jurists from 
the four prominent schools have different ideas in this regard. According to Shafi’ite 
and Hanbalite schools, a person is called faqir if he possesses no wealth and earning, 
or earns income and wealth which satisfy less than half of his needs. A person is called 
miskeenif he earns income and wealth which satisfy more than half, but less than 
100 percent of his needs. On the other hand, the other two schools, i.e. Hanafite 
and Malikite, have the opposite perceptions. However, Shirazi (1994) argues that 
opinions are not much different from practical point of view. It is because both are 
not in a position to meet their needs without the provision of assistance provided 
by the society or state.

Hafidhuddin (2013) stated that poverty is part of God’s law in this life. As 
mentioned in the Quran (43:32) that Allah SWT has determined people’s livelihood. 
Some of them are lifted up higher than the others, so that they can synergize and 
help each other. Islam, hence, does not discuss on how to eliminate poverty totally. 
Rather, it discusses how to reduce the excessive gap between the rich and the poor. 

Hafidhuddin also argues that the poor having good morals are one of 
important pillars of development. He cites Ali bin Abi Thalib who states that the 



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  91

resilience of the world and society affairs is due to five pillars: knowledge of the ulama, 
fair and just rulers, generosity of the rich, honesty and integrity of the employees 
and bureaucracy, and prayer of the poor. He concludes that poverty could not be 
observed only from material perspective, but also from spiritual perspective.

Existing Model of Poverty Standard: Case of Indonesia

The literatures above have demonstrated that poverty from Islamic perspective 
covers both material and spiritual dimensions. Another important issue is how to 
measure poverty and on what basis this poverty is determined. In this regard, some 
attempts have been made by various institutions and scholars. This section elaborates 
at least three models which have been applied, especially with the reference to 
Indonesia. Those are model of consumption or basic needs approach, model of 
decent living standard, and model of family welfare.

The National Board of Statistics of Indonesia uses consumption model or basic 
needs approach as basis for determining poverty standard. The model comprises food 
consumption and non-food consumption standard. Food consumption is based on 
the consumption of 2,100 kilo calories per capita per day, and these calories are 
valued in terms of money. If a person consumes less than this calorie standard, then 
he will be categorized as poor. Therefore, this standard is also called as food poverty 
line.

In Indonesia, non-food consumption for rural areas is different from urban 
areas. There are 47 commodities for rural areas while urban areas have 51 commodities 
(Beik, 2013). Similarly, these commodities are valued in terms of money. The 
standard resulted from this valuation is called non-food poverty line. Summation of 
food poverty line and non-food poverty line forms national poverty line. According 
to the September 2013 data, contribution of food poverty line towards national 
poverty line reaches 73.43 percent. The rest is contributed by non-food poverty line 
(National Board of Statistics, 2014). Unit of analysis in this approach is individual 
basis. However, spiritual dimension is not considered by this approach. It merely 
focuses on material aspect.

Another approach is the one that has been developed by the Ministry of Labor 
and Transmigration of Indonesia. The Ministry has issued an index of decent living 
standard. Initially, it is used as basis for determining minimum wage standard for 
labor. This minimum wage is decided by Wage Council which operates in every city 
and regency throughout the country (Beik, 2012). This council consists of tripartite: 
government representative, labor representative and industrial representative. 

Index of decent living standard is designed to observe capability of a person to 
fulfill his basic needs, such as food, clothes and housing needs. The index comprises 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 92

seven basic elements: first, food and drink; second, clothes; third, housing; fourth, 
education; fifth, health; sixth, transportation; and seventh, recreation and saving. 
Survey is always conducted annually as media of information on real prices of the 
basic elements. Nevertheless, this index does not accommodate religiosity and 
freedom to express and to practice religious obligation. When the monetary value 
of the index has been decided by the Wage Council, labor office of city government 
must ensure that all industries obey the decision. Unit of analysis of this index is 
individual basis. 

Unlike the previous two standards, the National Coordinating Agency of 
Family Planning Program of Indonesia (known as Badan Koordinasi Keluarga 
Berencana Nasional, abbreviated as BKKBN) applies the model of family welfare, 
which has been replicated in more than 90 countries globally (Alimoeso, 2014). 
The model is designed on household or family basis. This is totally different from 
the previous two approaches, which are individual-based. BKKBN classifies family 
into five types: pre-prosperous family, prosperous family I, prosperous family II, 
prosperous family III, and prosperous family III-plus. 

Pre-prosperous family is considered as the poorest of the poor or the hardcore 
poor, while prosperous family I is classified as the poor. Prosperous family I is used 
as the family poverty standard. Criteria employed to determine poverty standard for 
family is qualitative in nature. BKKBN has determined six criteria, which are based 
on the basic needs approach. Those are: first, food consumption at least twice a day 
although with minimum calories; second, family members have different clothes for 
school, work, travelling and during their stay at home; third, residential house has 
good roof, floor and wall; fourth, treatment for family member suffering illness is 
conducted at health facilities provided by government; fifth, when parents are still 
in productive age and willing to join family planning program, they consult official 
contraception service facilities; and sixth, all children aging between 7 to 15 years 
old are schooling. Inability to fulfill at least one of these criteria will place a family in 
the category of hardcore poor or pre-prosperous family (Alimoeso, 2014).

BKKBN further determines the indicators of family that has been released 
from poverty. These indicators are used as basis to observe whether a poor family 
has changed their status from prosperous family I to prosperous family II. Criteria 
of the prosperous family II comprise eight criteria, which are: first, family members 
are able to perform religious obligation; second, entire family members consume 
meat, egg and fish at least once in a week; third, all family members at least purchase 
one new clothes in a year; fourth, the floor size of the house at least 8 m2 for each 
family member; fifth, family members for the last three months are in a good health 
condition so that they are able to perform their functions and duties; sixth, at least 



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  93

there exists one family member who work to earn sufficient income; sevent, all 
family members whose age are between 10-60 years old able to read and write in 
Indonesian language; and eight, parents in productive age with 2 or more children 
use contraception medicine or other tools of contraception (Alimoeso, 2014). 

Cibest Model on Islamic Poverty and Welfare Indices

Various attempts have been made in order to construct poverty and 
welfare standards from Islamic perspective. One of the most significant efforts 
in the contemporary economy, which has been used in the real practice of zakat 
distribution, is the concept of Lembaga Zakat Selangor (Selangor Zakat Institution 
in Malaysia, abbreviated as LZS). LZS has used had al-kifayahapproach as the basis 
to determine whether a family or a person is eligible to receive zakat or not. Had 
al-kifayahby definition is standard of minimum needs, which must be fulfilled by a 
family. Inability to fulfill these needs will place family in poor status and hence, that 
family is eligible to receive zakat fund. 

In this concept, LZS has divided a family into five groups: head of household, 
working adult, unemployed adult, children within the 7-17 years old age group, 
and children within the 1-6 age group (Rasoolet al, 2011). The poor standard is 
determined by the ability of a household to satisfy their basic needs (daruriyyah), 
which consist of foods, clothes, houses, health, and education. Thus, by applying 
had al-kifayah, a household is eligible to receive zakat fund only if their monthly 
income is less than RM 1,650 –this is 2011 data. In addition, if there were disable 
or people with severe illness in the family members, the minimum limit would be 
raised to RM 2,240/month/household (Rasoolet al, 2011). 

The concept applied by LZS should be greatly appreciated since it attempts 
to go beyond poverty line income (PLI) standard, which has been applied across 
the globe by many governments. Sometimes the value of PLI in many countries 
is too low compared to their economy condition. Nevertheless, the LZS concept 
is still focusing on material aspect. Had al-kifayahis merely translated into basic 
needs, which do not consider spiritual aspect. In this paper, we attempt to construct 
poverty and welfare standards which cover both material and spiritual aspects. These 
standards will be reflected in the poverty and welfare indices, which are measurable 
and comparable. 

Basic spiritual needs could be defined as the needs to implement ibaadah 
(worship) to Allah SWT. BKKBN as mentioned in the third section includes 
capability to undertake religious obligation as an indicator of welfare family. However, 
BKKBN does not elaborate further criteria of this capability. This paper, hence, 
proposes that the concept of this ‘capability’ should be indicated by three factors, 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 94

i.e. ability, strong will, and freedom. These three factors are strongly interrelated. 
The absence of one or more factors will reduce capability of a person to perform 
ibaadah. If this happens, a person may have poor spiritual condition. For example, 
the absence of willingness to pray will reduce capability to undertake worship.

Furthermore, there are five variables of basic spiritual needs: implementation 
of shalat(prayer), saum(fasting), zakat, household environment, and government 
policy environment. These variables will be used as basis in the calculation of 
spiritual poverty index, which will be discussed later. As already known, prayer, 
fasting and zakat are part of Islamic pillars which must be fully implemented by 
Muslims, in addition to declaration of shahadahand hajj (pilgrimage). Reluctance to 
perform these ibaadah may reduce the quality of iman(faith). There is no excuse for 
all Muslims, especially those who are included in the category of mukallaf, to avoid 
these religious obligations. 

Pilgrimage, on the other hand, is excluded from the variables affecting 
spiritual poverty index. It is because pilgrimage requires certain conditions, such as 
availability of huge financial resources. Another argument, when a person has strong 
awareness to undertake prayer, zakat and fasting obligations, he will automatically 
have awareness to perform hajj subject to his capability in removing financial 
constraint. Spiritually, this person is rich. Therefore, the focus should be directed to 
prayer, fasting and zakat. 

Fourth variable is household environment. It is extremely important to have 
supportive household environment in fulfilling religious obligations. Unsupportive 
household environment may create spiritually poor person. For example, when the 
husband has a very liberal opinion in which he disagrees with the existence of prayer, 
most probably the wife will face difficulty in performing prayer regularly. She may 
fall to spiritually poor person status. 

Similarly, the fifth variable, i.e. government policy environment, is also 
affecting spiritual condition of the people. Although not all ibaadah require 
specific government regulation, but the presence of supportive government policy 
environment is highly needed. This environment will determine the degree of 
freedom to execute Islamic teaching in certain societies. Unsupportive government 
policy environment may produce spiritually poor people. For example, although 
Prayer Act is not needed, but when government attempts to secularize the people by 
prohibiting prayer or by not providing sufficient prayer room in government offices, 
it may create spiritually poor bureaucrats. Hence, this variable cannot be ignored.

Unit of analysis proposed is based on household rather than individual. It 
is because in Islam, the smallest unit of society is household or family. Given this 
reason, hence in this paper, LZS (Lembaga Zakat Selangor)division of household is 



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  95

adopted with modification. This modification could be observed in the presence of 
teenagers group. The main reason is due to different characteristic between teenagers 
and children, especially with respect to emotional maturity and puberty period. 
Hence, the household is divided into six groups: head of the household, working 
adult, unemployed adult (>18 years old), teenagers between 15-18 years old group, 
children within 7-14 years old group, and children within ≤ 6 years old group.    

Head of the household is defined as a person who is responsible to fulfill basic 
needs of the entire household members. The household head could be father, single 
mother (widow or divorced mother), or other responsible person in the absence 
of parents, such as elder brother or sister. Working adult is defined as a person 
who is working but still under the responsibility of household head. This could 
be a working wife, son, daughter, or someone else, such as adopted son who has 
professional job. 

Unemployed adult, furthermore, is defined as a person who is under the 
responsibility of household head but not working, such as housewife and unemployed 
son. Teenager refers to a person attending school or school dropout teenage within 
the age group 15-18 and in puberty period. This group could be included in the 
category of mukallaf. 

Child within the age group 7-14 is defined as the one who attend school or 
school dropout child. Lastly, child within the age group ≤ 6 refers to the one whose 
age is less than or equal to 6 years old. These last two groups are not included in the 
category of mukallaf.

From the concept of fulfillment of basic spiritual needs and material needs, 
we can construct typology of the household in the form of CIBEST quadrant. There 
are four typologies of household based on their ability to fulfill basic spiritual needs 
and basic material needs. It could be observed in the following Figure 1.

Figure 1. CIBEST Quadrant



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 96

Based on the Figure 1, CIBEST quadrant is divided into four quadrants. 
Material needs are shown by horizontal axis, while spiritual needs are represented 
by vertical axis. The (+) sign in the horizontal axis indicates that material needs have 
been sufficiently fulfilled by the household while (-) sign indicates the opposite, i.e. 
the household is lack of material needs. Similarly, the (+) sign in the vertical axis 
portrays the ability of household to fulfill their spiritual needs while the (-) sign 
shows the opposite condition.

In the first quadrant, it can be observed that the household is in the positive 
areas of both material needs and spiritual needs. It means that the household is 
spiritually and materially rich. Hence, this area is called welfare quadrant. The 
second quadrant is combination of positive spiritual needs and negative material 
needs. This indicates that the household is spiritually rich but materially poor. This 
area is called material poverty quadrant.

The third quadrant combines positive material needs and negative spiritual 
needs. The household in this area is found to be materially rich but spiritually poor. 
This area is called spiritual poverty quadrant. Lastly, the fourth quadrant shows the 
mixture between negative spiritual needs and negative material needs. It means that 
the household in quadrant is spiritually and materially poor. Hence, this area is 
called absolute poverty quadrant.

The CIBEST quadrant has, at least, two advantages. Firstly, it will be able 
to identify the number of households in each quadrant. Secondly, it will assist 
government agencies to formulate precise development policy, which is needed 
in order to move households living in poverty quadrants towards the welfare 
quadrant.

This model is based on the CIBEST Quadrant. As has been discussed above, 
there are four CIBEST quadrants. CIBEST model is constructed from these four 
quadrants. The model is composed from four indices, namely, welfare index, material 
poverty index, spiritual poverty index, and absolute poverty index. This sub section 
attempts to formulate these indices mathematically.

The first is the welfare index. This index is symbolized by W. Formula of the 
index is as below:

......................................(1)
whereby:
W = Welfare Index; 0 < W < 1
w  = the number of prosperous households (spiritually and materially rich)   
N = total number of observed households 
In this index, we simply calculate the number of households whom are 



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  97

spiritually and materially rich (w). It will be then divided by the number of total 
population in order to get welfare index. The value of welfare index is between 0 
and 1. It is because of the impossibility of having all population in the same welfare 
quadrant. The second index is Material Poverty Index. This index is symbolized by 
Pm. Formula of Pm can be observed below.

........................................(2)
whereby:
Pm = Material Poverty Index; 0 < Pm < 1
Mp = the number of materially poor but spiritually rich households 
 N = total number of observed households 
We simply count the number of households living in the second quadrant of 

CIBEST in order to get the value of Mp. Furthermore, the third index is spiritual 
poverty index (Ps). Formula of this index is as follow.

.......................................(3)
whereby:
Ps = Spiritual Poverty Index; 0 < Ps < 1
Sp = the number of spiritually poor but materially rich households
N = total number of observed households 
The value of Sp could be identified when the number of spiritually poor 

households living in the third quadrant of CIBEST is known.  Lastly, the fourth 
index is absolute poverty index, which is symbolized by Pa. Formula of this index 
is as below.

.....................................(4)
whereby:
Pa = Absolute Poverty Index; 0 < Pa < 1
Ap = the number of absolute poor households 
    (materially and spiritually poor)
N = total number of observed households
This index requires calculation of the number of absolute poor households 

(Ap) in order to find out the value of Pa. Nevertheless, the values of w, Mp, Sp and 
Ap cannot be computed unless we know the standard determining material poor and 
spiritual poor. Regarding these, we will develop material line as the basis to separate 
materially poor and materially rich households. We will also develop spiritual line as 
the basis to separate spiritually poor and spiritually rich households.   

Material line (MV) is derived from minimum standard of material needs, 
which must be fulfilled by a household. Mathematical formula of this MV can be 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 98

seen below.
MV = ..........................(5)
whereby:
MV = minimum material needs standard 
    (in terms of Rp or local currency)
Pi = price of goods and services i 
    (in terms of Rp or local currency)
Mi = minimum number of goods and services needed

Table 1. Spiritual Needs Indicator

Variables Likert Scale Poverty 
Standard1 2 3 4 5

Prayer
Blocking 
others to 
pray

Against the 
concept of 
prayer

Performing 
obligatory 
prayer but 
not on 
regular basis

Always 
performing 
obligatory 
prayer 
but not in 
congrega-
tional prayer

Performing 
congregational 
prayer for 
obligatory one 
and perform 
recommended 
prayer

Average 
score for 

spiritually 
poor 

household 
is equal 

to 3
(SV = 3)

Fasting

Blocking 
others to 
undertake 
fasting

Against the 
concept of 
fasting

Not fully 
performing 
obligatory 
fasting   

Performing 
only 
obligatory 
fasting

Performing 
obligatory 
fasting and 
recommendable 
fasting

Zakat 
and Infak

Blocking 
others to 
pay zakat 
and infak

Against the 
concept of 
zakat and 
infak

Not paying 
infak at least 
once in a 
year

Paying zakat 
al-fitrand 
zakat al-maal

Paying zakat 
al-fitr, zakat al-
maal, and infak

House-
hold 
Environ-
ment

Forbid 
ibaadah

Against 
implemen-
tation of 
ibaadah

Consider 
ibaadahas 
private 
matter for 
household 
member

Support 
execution of 
ibaadah

Creating 
environment 
which obligates 
execution of 
ibaadah

Govern-
ment 
Policy 
Environ-
ment

Forbid 
ibaadah

Against 
implemen-
tation of 
ibaadah

Consider 
ibaadahas 
private 
matter 

Support 
execution of 
ibaadah

Creating 
environment 
which obligates 
execution of 
ibaadah

Based on the equation (5) above, a household is called materially poor when 
income of that household is less than the MV value. Otherwise, the household is 
classified materially rich. However, the MV formula is not sufficient. We need to 
have spiritual line formula.



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  99

Spiritual line (SV) is derived from five variables explained in the above sub 
section. It is the line showing actual spiritual condition of the households. Likert 
scale is used to assist the evaluation of household spiritual condition. Table 1 provides 
the indicators of the five variables of spiritual needs.

Based on the Table 1, the Likert scale used is ranging from 1 to 5. The value 
of 1 shows the worst indicator while that of 5 indicates the best condition. Spiritual 
standard, which separates spiritually poor households and spiritually rich households, 
is determined to be equal to 3. Mathematically, it can be written as follow.

SV = 3 .......................................... (6)
whereby:
 SV = absolute line (standard) for spiritual poverty
The value of SV is based on three arguments. Firstly, for prayer and fasting 

needs, the value of 3 shows that a person intentionally leaves his obligation in one 
time, and in other time, he performs his obligations. In Islam, leaving our obligation 
intentionally will be considered as sinful acts, which reduce spiritual quality of a 
person. Secondly, for zakat and infak payment, the value of 3 indicates that a person 
has no intention to pay infak, even once in a year. Although paying infak is not 
obliged for the poor, but we believe that even the poorest of the poor will also have 
capability to pay infak. For example, a poor household should be able to pay infak 
USD 1 per annum. It is a very minimum amount. Therefore, this score is made as 
spiritual line.

Thirdly, as for household environment and government policy environment, 
the score of 3 shows separation between worldly affairs and akheeraaffairs. There 
is no effort to encourage household members to execute ibaadahsince ibaadahis 
considered as private matter. It means that it is up to the household members 
whether they want to perform their religious obligation or not. 

We can also calculate general spiritual condition of households in one country. 
The formula to compute it is as below.

........................................(7)

whereby:
 SS  = Average score of actual spiritual condition of the observed
     households
 SHk = Actual spiritual condition of the household k 
  N = Total number of observed households
If the value of SS > SV, then generally speaking, spiritual condition of 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 100

population in one country is in good condition. In other words, they are spiritually 
rich. Similarly, if the value of SS ≤ SV, the residents of that country are spiritually 
poor.  Another important aspect is related on the calculation of SHk. It is obtained 
from the score of all variables observed in the household. Therefore, equation (8) 
below provides the formula to compute SHk. 

 .....................(8)
whereby:
 SH = average score of actual spiritual condition of one household
 Hh = actual spiritual score of household member h 
 MH = total number of household members
As for Hi, its formula is as below:

.........................(9)

whereby:
 Hi = actual spiritual score of household member i
 Vp = prayer score
 Vf = fasting score
 Vz = score of zakat and infak
 Vh = score of household environment
 Vg = score of government policy environment
Determination of the number of households in each CIBEST quadrant is 

based on combination of results of MV standard and SV standard. There are four 
probabilities of combination between MV and SV results (vide Table 2). 

Table 2. Combination of MV and SV Values

Results ≤ MV value >MV value

>SV value
Materially Poor and 

Spiritually Rich Household
(Quadrant II)

Materially and Spiritually 
Rich Household

(Quadrant I) 

≤ SV value
Materially and Spiritually 

Poor Household
(Quadrant IV)

Materially Rich and 
Spiritually Poor Household

(Quadrant III)

When the number of household in each quadrant is known, then calculation 
of all indices is easy to conduct. Combining all values of welfare index, material 
poverty index, spiritual poverty index and absolute poverty index, we will get total 
values of those indices to be equal to 1. This is called as the generalized CIBEST 
model.



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  101

CIBEST Model = 1 = W + Pm + Ps + Pa............................(10)
Total summation of all indices must be equal to one. These indices could be 

utilized in mapping the population, in which quadrant that most of the population 
live. It will assist the government to design policy strategy that can be effectively 
executed. Let us proceed to the following sub-section in order to understand 
computation of these indices.

In this illustration, there are two basic assumptions which must be fulfilled. 
Firstly, the collected data must be primary data. Secondly, method of obtaining data 
must be census or sampling.  

There are four stages of calculating these indices. Firstly, compute the value 
of MV, while that of SV is already given, i.e. 3. This MV value may be taken from 
official data of the observed country. In case available official data is on individual 
basis, we need to transform the data into household basis. For example, if USD 
100 is found to be the individual poverty line and 4 person is the average size of 
a household, then multiplication of USD 100 and 4 person will yield household 
material line or MV value. Secondly, calculate the value of SH and monthly income 
of the observed households. Thirdly, put the observed households in the CIBEST 
quadrant whether they are in the first, second, third or fourth quadrant by using 
Table 2 as reference. Fourthly, calculate all indices by using available data. 

In order to understand deeper, let us begin with an Islamic state. Assume 
that there exist 10 households living in the country. Regarding the MV value, let 
us assume that the MV standard is equal to USD 150. This MV standard may vary 
across countries. In our case, this assumption of MV value is needed in order to 
ease the calculation. As for SV, it is equal to 3. The actual condition of these 10 
households is portrayed in the Table 3. They have different number of household 
member. Assume that we have conducted survey on them in order to find out their 
actual spiritual condition as well as their actual income.

Table 3. Actual Spiritual and Material Condition of the Observed Households

Household 
Number

Household 
Member SH

Household 
Income/
Month

Status CIBEST 
Quadrant

#1 5 members 3.8 USD 270 Spiritually and 
materially rich

Quadrant I

#2 7 members 2.9 USD 500 Spiritually 
poor and 
materially rich

Quadrant III 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 102

#3 3 members 2.4 USD 100 Spiritually 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant IV

#4 4 members 1.9 USD 50 Spiritually 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant IV

#5 3 members 4.2 USD 600 Spiritually and 
materially rich

Quadrant I

#6 3 members 4.5 USD 100 Spiritually rich 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant II

#7 3 members 3.7 USD 50 Spiritually rich 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant II

#8 6 members 2.3 USD 100 Spiritually 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant IV 

#9 7 members 3.6 USD 50 Spiritually rich 
and materially 
poor

Quadrant II

#10 3 members 1.5 USD 350 Spiritually 
poor and 
materially rich

Quadrant III

Given the information provided in the Table 3, we can calculate the value of 
each index. Let us start with Welfare Index. Total number of observed households 
or N is equal to 10, while the value of w is equal to 2. By using equation (1), we 
will obtain:

W = 2/10 = 0.2
Interpretation of this index is that there 20 percent of the households in the 

country whom are spiritually and materially rich. Furthermore, the Table 3 provides 
information on the values of Mp, Sp, and Ap, respectively. It is known that Mp = 
3, Sp = 2, and Ap = 3. From these data, we can calculate Material Poverty Index, 
Spiritual Poverty Index and Absolute Poverty Index. They are as below.

Pm = 3/10 = 0.3
Ps = 2/10 = 0.2
Pa = 3/10 = 0.3
It can be interpreted that 30 percent of the population live in material poverty, 

while 20 percent live under spiritual poverty. The remaining 30 percent live in the 
absolute poverty condition. General CIBEST model will be equal to:

CIBEST Model = W + Pm + Ps + Pa = 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.2 + 0.3 = 1



Irfan Syauqi Beik & Laily Dwi Arsyianti: Construction of Cibest Model  103

This information should be utilized by policy maker in the country. Some 
policy implications may arise from this illustration. In the first priority, Islamic 
government should focus on those living in the fourth quadrant as the primary target 
of development programs. These programs must be designed not only by targeting 
material progress but also spiritual progress. Second priority is the second quadrant, 
in which the households are materially poor and spiritually rich. Providing financial 
access and technical assistance may become the solution. Third priority is the third 
quadrant. Those who are in this quadrant can be requested to fulfil their religious 
obligation, such aspaying zakat, in order to purify their spiritual condition. The 
ultimate objective of the government is on how to move the people living in these 
quadrants to the first quadrant, which is welfare area.

Conclusion

From the discussion and analysis above, some conclusions can be drawn. 
Firstly, poverty and welfare concepts in the Islamic perspective are not only seen 
from material dimension, but also spiritual dimension. However, various indicators 
prevailing in many parts of the world including Islamic countries seem to focus only 
on material progress. Lack of attention towards spiritual progress is still becoming 
development issue that needs to be overcome.  

Secondly, attempts to construct various indicators determining level of poverty 
and prosperity in an Islamic countries should be encouraged since these indicators 
could be used as development signal whether it is success or not. Regarding this, this 
paper has attempted to develop four indices, namely, welfare index, material poverty 
index, spiritual poverty index, and absolute poverty index. These indices are based 
on the concept of CIBEST quadrant, which represents Islamic concept on poverty 
and prosperity. 

Thirdly, the presence of CIBEST quadrant and CIBEST model produces 
policy implications, which are expected to be beneficial for Islamic government in 
providing direction of development. Main target of development program is on how 
to mobilize households to the welfare quadrant, in which households are spiritually 
and materially rich.

However, this study has also limitation. Unless the Muslim minority living 
in non-Islamic countries attempt to use this model in order to observe their actual 
poverty and welfare level, CIBEST model may only be applied in the Islamic 
countries. Future research on the possibility to implement Islamic concept of poverty 
and welfare level should be prioritized as an important agenda. 



Al-Iqtishad: Vol. VII No. 1, Januari 2015 104

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