<![CDATA[Purpose - This study explores how internal business actors interpret zakat in business practice through a social–spiritual accounting perspective. It moves beyond viewing zakat solely as a normative obligation, Sharia compliance instrument, or redistribution mechanism by examining how actors connect economic calculation, social responsibility, and spiritual consciousness.Method - Using an interpretive paradigm and an interpretive phenomenological approach, the study investigates business actors involved in Liquefied Petroleum Gas distribution and fuel station operations in Palopo City. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with business owners and internal actors engaged in zakat practices, supported by observation and documentation. Analysis involved identifying significant statements, thematic coding, clustering themes, researcher reflection, and constructing the essence of participants’ lived experiences.Findings - Two principal meanings of zakat emerged: zakat as an expectation of material value enhancement and zakat as protection against misfortune (bala’) or as a spiritual safeguard. These meanings do not demonstrate that zakat causally increases income or removes business risk; rather, they reflect participants’ interpretations of blessing (barakah), business continuity, inner peace, and security in conducting business activities.Research implications - The findings extend Islamic accounting discourse by showing that zakat concerns not only wealth measurement and distribution, but also the formation of ethical and spiritual consciousness in business practice. As a context-specific phenomenological inquiry, the study offers interpretive rather than generalizable conclusions.Originality - This study provides a localized phenomenological account of zakat as lived and experienced by business actors, highlighting its simultaneous economic, social, and spiritual meanings.]]>
