Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Becomes Suspect in Additional Hajj Quota Initiative
Jakarta — The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed the structure of the hajj quota case at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag). The KPK disclosed that there was an initiative request from former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qaumas concerning additional hajj quotas which ultimately harmed regular Indonesian hajj pilgrims by depriving them of additional quota slots provided by the Saudi Arabian government.
In this case, the KPK has designated former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as a suspect, along with former Special Staff to the Religious Affairs Minister Isfan Abidal Aziz (IAA), also known as Gus Alex.
Regarding the organisation of the 2024/1445 H hajj pilgrimage, the KPK explained that in June 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah informed Indonesia that it would receive a hajj quota for the year 1445 H/2024 M of 221,000 pilgrims (base quota) and 2,210 officer quota. Subsequently, in October 2023, the Indonesian government held a meeting with the Saudi Arabian government.
“In that meeting, it was stated that Indonesia would receive an additional quota of 20,000. This additional quota was necessary due to Indonesia’s long hajj waiting list, which extended up to 47 years,” said Asep Guntur Rahayu, Deputy for Enforcement and Execution at the KPK, at a press conference on Thursday (12 March 2026).
Subsequently, in November 2023, Yaqut issued Ministerial Decree (KMA) Number 1005 of 2023 Concerning Indonesia’s Hajj Quota for 2024. In that KMA, Indonesia’s hajj quota for 2024 was set at 221,000 pilgrims, divided into 203,320 quotas for regular hajj and 17,680 quotas for special hajj.
“This quota was still the base quota,” Asep stated.
Afterwards, in early November, Asep mentioned that there had been a Working Session between Yaqut and Commission 8 of the Indonesian House of Representatives regarding the Financial Accountability Report of the operational cost of hajj pilgrimage services in 2023 and the Religious Affairs Minister’s report on Additional Hajj Quota for Indonesia for the year 1445 H/2024 M. In that Working Session, Yaqut conveyed that the additional hajj quota for Indonesia for 2024 of 20,000 would be divided as follows: 92 per cent for regular hajj, totalling 18,400, and 8 per cent for special hajj, totalling 1,600.
“In November 2023, there was communication between the Technical Staff of the Indonesian Hajj Affairs Office in Jeddah and IAA indicating that the e-hajj application was active and Indonesia’s hajj quota for 2024 of 221,000 pilgrims had been entered into e-hajj. This quota was still the base hajj quota (without the additional quota). After receiving that information, IAA conveyed that the additional 20,000 quota would be divided equally or 50:50, based on the direction or order from Yaqut,” Asep stated.