Indonesia's Hajj Quota Corruption Costs Rp622bn in State Losses

6 hours ago 3

March 13, 2026 | 07:00 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said the alleged corruption involving the distribution of additional hajj quotas caused state losses of Rp622 billion, based on calculations by the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK).

“The BPK has calculated the state financial losses caused by illegal actions committed by parties involved in the hajj quota distribution,” KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu said at the commission’s headquarters in South Jakarta on Thursday, March 12, 2026.

The KPK has named two suspects in the case: former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and his former special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz, also known as Gus Alex. Both were designated suspects on January 8, 2026.

The case stems from an additional hajj quota of 20,000 pilgrims granted to Indonesia by Saudi Arabia. According to investigators, Yaqut ordered the quota to be divided equally—10,000 for regular hajj pilgrims and 10,000 for special hajj programs—for the 2023–2024 period.

Gus Alex then coordinated discussions with Saudi authorities on the administrative mechanism for implementing the equal distribution of the additional quota.

However, the KPK said the policy conflicted with Indonesia’s 2019 Law on the Organization of Hajj and Umrah, which stipulates that special hajj quotas should amount to 8 percent of Indonesia’s total hajj quota.

Investigators said the initiative for the equal distribution was also communicated by Yaqut to the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Services, Hilman Latief.

Yaqut reportedly instructed him to prepare a memorandum of understanding with Saudi authorities and conduct simulations to justify changing the composition of the additional quota to a 50:50 split.

The agreement later enabled Saudi authorities to include the additional quota in the e-Hajj system, raising Indonesia’s total hajj quota for 2024 to 241,000 pilgrims, up from the previous 221,000.

In late November 2023, Gus Alex asked Indonesia’s Hajj Affairs Office in Jeddah to formally request the equal quota distribution from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. Saudi officials subsequently asked the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs to submit a formal letter confirming the proposal.

Following the request, the ministry issued Ministerial Decree No. 1156 of 2023, which formally set the distribution of the additional 20,000 quota at 10,000 for regular pilgrims and 10,000 for special pilgrims.

According to the KPK, however, the decree was not widely disseminated within the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah.

The KPK argues the decision contradicted existing law and also differed from the outcome of a meeting between the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII and the Ministry of Religious Affairs on November 27, 2023.

After the agreement was finalized, Yaqut sent a letter to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah confirming Indonesia’s total quota of 241,000 pilgrims, consisting of 213,000 regular pilgrims and 27,000 special pilgrims.

Prosecutors have charged Yaqut and Gus Alex under Indonesia’s anti-corruption law for allegedly abusing their authority in the quota distribution.

The KPK has detained Yaqut for an initial 20-day period from March 11 to March 31, 2026, at its detention facility in South Jakarta.

Read: KPK Detains Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas

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