Hoax! Ministry of Religion denies maximising zakat and waqf to support free nutritious meals programme

A Facebook post circulated claiming that Indonesia’s Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar stated that the Ministry of Religion would maximise zakat and waqf donations to support the Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) free nutritious meals programme. The post also included comments questioning the use of zakat outside the eight designated recipient categories (asnaf).

However, Minister Nasaruddin Umar categorically refuted this claim, emphasising that zakat cannot be used outside the provisions of the eight asnaf as stipulated in the Quran. He stressed that utilising zakat beyond the legitimate recipient groups constitutes a matter of Islamic law.

“Zakat cannot be utilised outside its asnaf categories. We must not give zakat to those who are non-asnaf. That is a matter of Islamic law,” the Minister stated, according to ANTARA news agency.

This clarification was issued to counter misinformation linking zakat to the MBG programme. Additionally, Thobib Al Asyhar, Head of the Public Relations and Communication Bureau of the Ministry of Religion, confirmed that to date no zakat distribution policy has been linked to the MBG initiative.