Islam and the Protection of Witnesses and Victims
Islam, from the outset, has not only been a doctrine of ritual but a religion of liberation. In many verses, the Qur’an sets a clear stance in favour of mustadh’afin – those weakened by social structures and power. At this level, religion is not neutral; it takes sides.
Thinkers such as Ali Shariati read Islam as an ideology of liberation that rejects all forms of structural oppression. In the Indonesian context, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) repeatedly emphasised that the measure of religiosity is reflected in the courage to defend the weak.
In contemporary times, the groups that are weakened are not only those experiencing material poverty but also witnesses and victims of crime. They are often in vulnerable positions. When they speak out, they face intimidation and systematic threats.
Moreover, not a few experience repeated victimisation, are blamed or shamed in public spaces. Yet in the judicial process, witnesses and victims play a crucial role. Without honest testimony, facts cannot be uncovered. Without the courage to report, crime can continue to recur.
Ramadan offers a space for clearer reflection. It is not merely personal piety but also a moment to rethink social piety. In the month when advocacy for the mustadh’afin is emphasised, questions of justice become increasingly relevant—have we truly protected those who have become victims and dared to testify for the sake of truth and justice?
In Islamic thought, the terms duafa and mustadh’afin are often interchanged, as if identical, but conceptually and ethically there are fundamental differences.
Duafa refers to those who are weak in terms of economic or social limitation, factual and visible — the poor, orphans, or individuals who lack access to basic needs. Therefore, approaches to the duafa are generally charitable, including direct aid, donations, subsidies, or the distribution of zakat and infak.
Meanwhile, mustadh’afin derives from the root istid’af — a process of weakening. Mustadh’afin are not merely individuals who are weak; there are preconditions in the shape of systems or power-relations structures that shape weakness, making a person vulnerable, marginalised, or even threatened. The Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa, verse 75, describes mustadh’afin as a group that is oppressed and calls for liberation from injustice.
Grounded in these two concepts, Witnesses and Victims are indeed within the category of those mustadh’afin, given their positions who often face perpetrators of crime who possess resources, networks, and even power.
This reality is reflected in the rising requests for protection to the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) throughout 2025, reaching 13,027 requests. The figure rose significantly by 27.50% compared with 2024, which recorded 10,217 requests. This rise is not merely statistics but an indicator of the real need for protection for witnesses and victims within criminal proceedings.
The various LPSK service programmes include physical protection, legal protection, and the fulfilment of procedural rights. In addition to these protection programmes, other LPSK services accessed by witnesses and victims include assistance. The assistance provided by LPSK covers medical assistance, psychological assistance, and psychosocial assistance.
Medical assistance is provided to restore victims’ physical health, psychological rehabilitation to restore mental health, while psychosocial rehabilitation aims to help ease, protect, and restore the victims’ physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being, enabling them to function socially and maintain a reasonable quality of life.
Overall, across 2025 LPSK aid provisions recorded 3,390 services/programmes, up 29% from 2024. The largest increase occurred in psychosocial rehabilitation, which rose by 77% from 497 in 2024 to 879 services/programmes.
Meanwhile, psychological rehabilitation recorded a significant 36% increase, from 622 services/programmes in 2024 to 847 services/programmes in 2025. The 2025 budget realisation for psychological rehabilitation services stood at Rp1,751,578,712.
Given the complexity of protecting witnesses and victims of crime, the protection of witnesses and victims requires support from various parties, not least Islamic philanthropy — a practice of charity aimed at realising social justice.
It must be acknowledged that, to date, Islamic philanthropy in Indonesia has shown noteworthy achievements. For example, the National Amil Zakat Agency (BAZNAS) reports millions of mustahik benefiting from programmes on a periodic basis, focusing on eradicating poverty, education, health, and economic empowerment.
Meanwhile, Dompet Dhuafa, in 2025, distributed funds amounting to Rp 422,942,586,574 from total collections of Rp 426,519,076,822. This figure marked a positive impact for 2,828,823 beneficiaries in 2025.
Unfortunately, these Islamic charity programmes have been more heavily targeted at the duafa group, while the mustadh’afin such as witnesses and victims have received less attention. While it is understandable that the strong emphasis on economic issues is highly relevant to zakat objectives, zakat institutions must broaden the scope of the definition of vulnerable groups to include those facing structural difficulties such as violence victims and witnesses who are threatened.
This approach would be more aligned with maqasid shari’ah holistically, namely to realise justice.