Contribution of BMT Financing and Mentoring to the Economic Welfare of Male Members

Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT) is an Islamic microfinance institution that integrates social functions (baitul maal) and business functions (baitul tamwil) to encourage the economic welfare of its members. This study aims to analyze the contribution of BMT financing and business mentoring at BMT UGT Nusantara, Tanah Merah Branch, Bangkalan, to the economic welfare of male members, as well as to identify supporting and inhibiting factors. The study used a descriptive qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews with eight male members receiving financing who opened businesses inside the Tanah Merah Market complex and two BMT managers, supplemented by observation and documentation. Data were analyzed through reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing following the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, with source triangulation to maintain data validity. The results showed that financing based on murabahah and mudharabah contracts, when accompanied by consistent business mentoring and supported by the location of the BMT office right in the middle of the market, made a real contribution to increasing income, adding merchant stock, and business management capacity of male members, especially in the business of basic foodstuffs, coconuts, clothing, school stationery, and stove repair services. Key supporting factors include proximity of location and cultural closeness based on Islamic boarding school values as well as a ball pick-up system, while inhibiting factors include low financial literacy, seasonal market demand fluctuations, and pressure from illegal online loans. The novelty of this research lies in positioning business mentoring as an interacting variable with financing in shaping economic welfare, as well as its specific focus on male members as heads of households in the Madurese socio-cultural context which has not been widely studied specifically in BMT literature.