Additional Hajj Quota Brings Yaqut Eid in Detention Centre

An unexpected blessing from the Saudi Arabian Government’s allocation of additional hajj quotas to the Indonesian Government initially appeared to benefit those registered for pilgrimage through the regular pathway who had been queuing for decades.

However, for the 2024 Gregorian calendar / 1445 Hijri calendar year of hajj implementation, hope for regular programme participants was dashed.

Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, serving as Minister of Religious Affairs at the time, decided to divide the 20,000 additional hajj quotas equally between regular and special hajj programmes—10,000 for each category.

Time moved on, and on 9 August 2025, the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced it had begun investigating allegations of corruption stemming from Yaqut’s decision.

The KPK argued that the additional hajj quotas must be allocated in accordance with Article 64 of Law No. 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimage, which mandates 92 per cent of quotas for regular hajj and 8 per cent for special hajj.

Additionally, the KPK contended that the additional hajj quotas should have been distributed in line with their original purpose: addressing the lengthy waiting period for hajj applicants, with some having waited up to 47 years.

The additional hajj quotas were assessed as state assets, and their failure to be distributed in accordance with these principles was deemed to constitute state losses—specifically, the absence of accelerated departure for regular hajj applicants.

Consequently, Yaqut was designated as a suspect in the hajj quota corruption case on charges of causing state losses.

Subsequently, on 12 March 2026, the KPK formally detained him for the first 20 days, requiring him to spend the remainder of the fasting month and celebrate Eid Al-Fitr 1447 Hijri at the State Detention Centre, Red and White Building Branch of the KPK, Jakarta.