There is one figure in the agreement on the 2027 Hajj Pilgrimage\nCosts (BPIH) that has escaped notice. Since 2023, the House of\nRepresentatives (DPR), the government and the Hajj Financial Management\nAgency (BPKH) have committed to reducing the Hajj cost\u2019s reliance on\ninvestment returns, generated from pilgrims\u2019 deposits and managed by\nBPKH.<\/p>\n
The results were initially visible: the share fell from 44.7 per cent\nin 2023 to 40 per cent in 2024, then to 38 per cent in both 2025 and\n2026. BPKH had even projected an ideal composition for 2027: 70 per cent\npaid by pilgrims and 30 per cent funded from investment returns.<\/p>\n
In reality, the target year saw the share funded by investment\nreturns reach 44.5 per cent. Three years of progress were almost wiped\nout in a single season. On 7 October 2026, the DPR Commission VIII\nworking group and the government agreed that the average cost of the\n2027 Hajj would be about Rp98.5 million per pilgrim.<\/p>\n
Pilgrims will pay around Rp54.6 million, while the remaining roughly\nRp43.8 million per person will be funded from investment returns. The\nlatter figure is almost a third higher than last year\u2019s Rp33.2 million.\nIt followed lengthy discussions: the government\u2019s initial proposal of 60\nper cent was adjusted to around 48 per cent in line with the President\u2019s\nsuggestion, before the parties settled on 44.5 per cent after\nconsidering input from BPKH and DPR Commission VIII.<\/p>\n
With the exchange rate assumed at Rp17,500 to the US dollar and\nservice costs in Saudi Arabia continuing to rise, holding down the\nburden on pilgrims is clearly no small achievement. The final instalment\nhas fallen to around Rp23 million, about Rp3 million less than last\nyear, helped by an APBN state budget allocation of around Rp3 million\nper pilgrim.<\/p>\n
But precisely because the news sounds so welcome, one question needs\nto be asked clearly: is today\u2019s relief being delivered in a way that\nremains fair to pilgrims still waiting their turn?<\/p>\n
How significant is the impact? Investment returns allocated to the\n2027 Hajj amount to around Rp8.83 trillion, with a further approximately\nRp2.6 trillion allocated to the virtual accounts of pilgrims awaiting\ndeparture. The total is about Rp11.4 trillion, almost equal to all the\nreturns generated by BPKH during 2025, at Rp12.05 trillion.<\/p>\n
This is only a rough comparison, since the periods do not align\nexactly, and it does not mean that Hajj funds are in difficulty. But it\nis like a household spending almost all its monthly income: there is\nlittle room to cope with surprises, whether a weaker rupiah or\ninvestment returns falling short. At this point, caution is not\noptional; it is essential.<\/p>\n
This year the distinction is clear: the Rp3 million from the APBN is\nthe state subsidy, while the Rp43.8 million comes from investment\nreturns. Economically, those returns function like cross-subsidies\nbecause they allow departing pilgrims to pay less than the actual\ncost.<\/p>\n
Legally, however, the money comes from pilgrims\u2019 own deposits. Those\neffectively \u201csubsidising\u201d departing pilgrims are fellow pilgrims,\nincluding people who will not travel for another decade or more. Article\n7 of Law No.\u00a034 of 2014 on Hajj Financial Management states that BPIH\npayments are pilgrims\u2019 entrusted funds, while Article 2 requires their\nmanagement to follow, among other things, the principles of sharia,\nprudence, transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n
The guardrails have now become clearer. Law No.\u00a014 of 2025 makes\nfairness and sustainability principles of Hajj administration (Article\n2), defining sustainability as a balance between serving pilgrims today,\noptimising investment returns and ensuring the future of the Hajj.<\/p>\n
The law also requires BPIH calculations to be \u201caccountable and based\non investment returns\u201d (Article 44), and requires the Minister to\nconsider the sustainability of Hajj finances when submitting a BPIH\nproposal to the DPR (Article 46(1)). Government Regulation No.\u00a05 of 2018\nalso requires DPR approval for the proportion of investment returns\nused. Protecting the rights of pilgrims awaiting departure is therefore\nnot merely a moral appeal, but a legal obligation.<\/p>\n
The same concern is reflected in sharia principles. The Eighth\nNational Ijtima of the Indonesian Ulema Council\u2019s Fatwa Commission,\nResolution No.\u00a009\/Ijtima\u2019 Ulama\/VIII\/2024, affirmed the basic principle:\nthe initial payment is the pilgrim\u2019s personal property held in trust, so\nthe returns on its investment must not be used to finance another\npilgrim\u2019s Hajj.<\/p>\n
The 2024 Indonesian Hajj Deliberation set out more practical\nguidance: the use of investment returns must be carefully calculated,\nkept sustainable and distributed proportionally between pilgrims\ndeparting and those waiting. One affirms the principle of trust; the\nother seeks to guide practice towards it gradually. The conclusion is\nthe same: the trust placed by waiting pilgrims must not be eroded.<\/p>\n
I want to consider this issue through Gustav Radbruch\u2019s three\nfundamental values of law: legal certainty, justice and utility. In\nterms of utility, the 2027 BPIH has clearly succeeded: departing\npilgrims will feel the relief directly. In terms of certainty, the\nprocess is valid, although one task remains: formal approval by the\nPresident.<\/p>\n
The aspect that most needs scrutiny is fairness, which in Hajj\nfinancing has a time dimension. Pilgrims waiting today are the pilgrims\nwho will depart in the future. When the share of investment returns used\nfor the current season rises, what is at stake is the system\u2019s ability\nto treat them equally when their turn comes.<\/p>\n
Radbruch reminds us that legal certainty must not become a shield for\ninjustice. The 2027 BPIH is far from such an extreme case, but the point\nremains relevant: formal legality does not automatically guarantee a\nsense of fairness, particularly for people who had no seat at the\nnegotiating table. This is not about setting departing pilgrims against\nthose waiting; they are the same people at different points in time.<\/p>\n
Lawrence M. Friedman\u2019s framework of a legal system\u2014substance,\nstructure and legal culture\u2014offers a clear roadmap. In terms of\nsubstance, the 2027 experience offers an important lesson: projections\nthat are not enshrined in rules can easily be abandoned.<\/p>\n
The aim of reducing reliance on investment returns should no longer\nbe left to annual negotiations. It should be set out in binding rules: a\nceiling on the proportion of investment returns used for the current\nHajj season, a measurable path for gradually reducing that share, and a\nminimum allocation to the virtual accounts of pilgrims awaiting\ndeparture. The bill to amend Law No.\u00a034 of 2014, now under consideration\nin the DPR, is the right place to include these provisions.<\/p>\n
In terms of structure, a basis of trust is already in place. BPKH\u2019s\n2025 financial statements again received an unqualified opinion from the\nAudit Board of Indonesia (BPK), with managed funds totalling Rp180.74\ntrillion. But an unqualified opinion answers the question, \u201cAre the\naccounts fairly presented?\u201d It does not answer, \u201cWill there be enough\nfunds for pilgrims who depart in the future?\u201d To address that second\nquestion, Law No.\u00a014 of 2025 requires BPKH to be involved in discussions\non proposed BPIH costs (Article 46(4)).<\/p>\n
This involvement needs to be substantive: BPKH\u2019s sustainability\nprojections should be made public, for example through regular reports\non the allocation of investment returns to departing and waiting\npilgrims, alongside projections for the next five to ten years.<\/p>\n
In terms of legal culture, the challenge lies in how we measure\nsuccess. As long as a \u201csuccessful\u201d Hajj is judged by how low this year\u2019s\nfinal instalment is, there will always be pressure in each season\u2019s\ndiscussions to increase the share funded from investment returns.\nPolicymakers and the public alike need the courage to accept that a\nreasonable payment today is a way to safeguard pilgrims\u2019 departure\ntomorrow.<\/p>\n
Every initial payment is a deposit entrusted after years of effort:\nsavings accumulated over many years, sometimes the proceeds from selling\na small paddy field. In the language of maqashid sharia, safeguarding\nthis money is part of hifzh al-mal\u2014the preservation of wealth\u2014and must\nnot be sacrificed for temporary convenience.<\/p>\n
Procedural compliance alone is therefore not enough. Management must\nbe mindful of pilgrims still waiting: their voices are not heard in the\nmeeting room, even though it is the returns on their deposits that are\nbeing distributed.<\/p>\n
The 2027 BPIH has been agreed and its implementation deserves\nsupport. But discussions in the coming years should be an opportunity to\nrecover the progress that was lost and strengthen transparency.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the measure of success in Hajj financing is not how light\nthe burden on pilgrims is this year, but whether the policy safeguards\nthe trust placed in Hajj funds, protects the interests of pilgrims\nacross time and sustains public confidence that the Hajj is managed\nfairly.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cheap-hajj-today-who-pays-tomorrow-1791733880", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }