The Gritara Model: A Community-Based Prototype for Mosque Zakat Digitalization

Purpose: Zakat fitrah is largely collected through residential mosques that sit outside official digital record-keeping, yet zakat-technology research concentrates on national agencies and fintech platforms. This study examines how digitalization unfolds at a residential mosque and whether institutional trust and platform trust move together or separately. Design/methodology/approach: A single, holistic qualitative case study of Masjid Gritara (Kabupaten Bandung, Indonesia) drew on nine semi-structured interviews, four observation episodes, and document analysis of 2021–2024 records, collected between February and April 2026 after informal field entry in January 2026. Two independent coders scored a five-dimension, case-derived rubric (DIGIT-MASJID; Cohen’s Kappa = 0.79). Findings: Zakat fitrah collection rose 47.0%, 34 new out-of-area muzakki were reached, and data-entry time fell 55%, gains attributable to training and pre-existing community trust rather than technology alone. The composite score rose from 2.4 to 3.4, with the largest gains in digital infrastructure and public accountability, while congregational trust plateaued: platform trust lagged institutional trust, a decoupling that adoption models seldom anticipate. Research limitations/implications: The findings rest on one purposively selected case and self-reported acceptance data; the Gritara Model is therefore a candidate framework pending multi-case validation. Practical implications: A low-cost, training-embedded, incremental pathway, complemented by intergenerational digital mentoring, can be piloted by other residential mosques and by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Originality/value: The study shows that institutional and platform trust can move at different speeds, a distinction most zakat-adoption studies treat as one construct, and supplies the first quantitative assessment of digitalization at the residential-mosque level, addressing an undertheorized grassroots dimension of Islamic social finance.