Minister grilled over haj accounts
Minister grilled over haj accounts
Dewi Santoso, Jakarta
The accountability of Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agiel Al
Munawar's planned haj savings program was questioned during a
House commission on Tuesday.
Beginning in 2005, the government will require those who wish
to go on the pilgrimage to deposit money at designated banks
every month until their savings reach Rp 20 million (US$2,298).
The designated banks include Bank Mandiri, Bank Muamalat and Bank
BNI.
A member of the House's Commission VI for the people's
welfare, Syahrul Azmir Matondang, questioned whether the policy
would lead to corruption as interest was considered haram
(forbidden by Islamic law).
"What will happen to the interest on the accounts, then? Will
it go into the ministry's account? If that is so, then what is
the compensation for those who save the money?" Syahrul said.
Said said the pilgrims would not earn interest on their
accounts. The savings would remain in the banks until the
pilgrims left for Mecca, he said.
Jakarta Consumers Institution executive director Zaim Saidi
said a policy requiring people to deposit money in banks in order
to go on the haj was detrimental to them.
"It's a dilemma for them because on one hand, they are morally
required to deposit money for their haj pilgrimage. On the other
hand, they can receive no interest because it is considered
haram," said Zaim.
The only beneficiaries of the policy were the account holder,
the religious ministry, and the banks, he said.
"It's clear the Ministry of Religious Affairs has the power to
do anything it wants with the money -- or interest. It would be
very easy for the ministry to misuse it," he said.
A total of 205,000 pilgrims a year are officially allowed to
visit Saudi Arabia for the haj under a quota system. The quota
for next year has already been filled. For 2006, 3,122 people
have been registered with the ministry for the haj trip.
At about Rp 24 million ($2,775) per pilgrim, the country has
around Rp 5 trillion per annum in haj savings, earning billions
of rupiah in interest.
"Can anybody say where the interest goes? No, because there
are no clear systems to really define or trace it, and that's
what makes this policy unfair," Zaim told The Jakarta Post.
He suggested that the pilgrims be required to save gold dinars
that could be changed into rupiah to finance their trip.
"One gold dinar has an international standard of 4.5 grams of
22 carat gold. And as far as I can recall, the price of gold has
never decreased. This system will benefit Muslims," he said.
Malaysia has had a similar program running since last year.
"The problem is that no banks will be willing to apply this
system. Therefore, the government should encourage the
establishment of a new private institution that will operate the
program," Zaim said.
The coming haj begins in January.