Maybe some Muslims, do not know Baitul Mal, some may know Baitul Mal is only a Sharia cooperative, or some may know Baitul Mal is part of the history of the Prophet of Allah.
From the sentence 'Baitul Mal' is indeed 'treasure house', in English it becomes the House of Treasury, In the world of banking treasury is one of the divisions related to cash management and payment transactions.
During the time of the Prophet until the Caliphate, Baitul Mal became a way as well as a place to collect treasures such as ghanimah, zakat, jizyah etc., then distribute them back to the community.
Currently Baitul Mal is similar to a banking institution, it's just that Baitul Mal is not profit-oriented like a banking institution. But it is more like state financial institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, but not limited to the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
It is difficult to imagine what Baitul Mal really looks like today, because there is no financial institution today that is as distinctive as Baitul Mal, both technically, management, operational, and institutional functions.
Baitul Mal itself is a very distinctive financial institution developed by Muslims from time to time. The existence of Baitul Mal is closely related to the political system, state system, and economic system adopted by Muslims in his time, namely the Caliphate system.
Baitul Mal plays a very large and extensive role, to ensure the distribution of property runs well among the community. In fact, Baitul Mal is widely responsible for the running of Muamalah Maliyah. Of course, the meaning of Muamalah Maliyah here is very broad, it's just that there are sections or divisions or departments that have their respective functions such as Amil Zakat which takes care of various types of zakat obligations.
Conceptually, Baitul Mal has a task in the division of ownership, namely individual ownership, public ownership, and state ownership, including the flow of financial transactions needed in the community.
If then Muslims want Baitul Mal, then it is certain that Baitul Mal will transform into the latest Baitul Mal in the current era of the century which is so complex. It is not impossible that Baitul Mal will be present again in the future, in accordance with the method and prophetic manhaj of the Prophet Solallahu'alaihi wasalam.
Wallahualam bishawab.