MUI Deputy Chair: There Is No Such Thing as a Hajj Cost Subsidy

Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Cholil Nafis has asserted that there is no such thing as a subsidy in the Cost of the Hajj Pilgrimage (BPIH). Cholil stated that the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) cannot cover travel expenses except from the profit-sharing of funds managed for prospective pilgrims awaiting their departure. ‘If the BPKH takes from the rights of pilgrims on the waiting list, then that is not allowed and is religiously forbidden (haram). So we must first ascertain, where does this subsidy money come from?’ Cholil told Tempo on Monday, 13 July 2026.

According to Cholil, the Hajj should return to its religious mandate, which is obligatory only for those who are capable. He stressed that the obligation to perform the Hajj applies solely to those who possess the capability (istitha’ah), both physically and financially. ‘Therefore, there is no such thing as a subsidy for Hajj pilgrims,’ he said. Cholil also reminded that there is no 40 percent or 60 percent scheme between the Hajj Travel Cost (Bipih) paid directly by prospective pilgrims and the 60 percent from the value of benefits managed by BPKH. ‘There is actually no 40 percent and 60 percent scheme because that money belongs to the pilgrims, not the government. If they take what is not theirs, it means they are taking the investment returns of other people who are not departing this year (those on the waiting list),’ he explained.

Cholil explained that the pilgrims’ money is invested and distributed according to their respective portions, and they then pay the fare according to the tariff. ‘Those who are able depart, and those who are not able are not obliged to depart,’ he said. Previously, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah proposed a new financing scheme for the 1448 Hijri or 2027 Hajj pilgrimage. The government proposed that the Hajj Travel Cost (Bipih) paid directly by prospective pilgrims be reduced to 40 percent, while the remaining 60 percent would be covered by the value of benefits managed by BPKH. Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak stated that this scheme is a form of government support to ensure that adjustments to Hajj costs do not increase the financial burden on pilgrims. ‘So, if the total is IDR 107 million, it means the pilgrims will pay around IDR 42.8 million, while the remaining IDR 64.2 million will be paid through the value of benefits from BPKH,’ Dahnil said during the 23rd Al Washliyah Congress at the Class I Hajj Dormitory in Jakarta on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, according to an official statement. This proposal reverses the previous year’s financing composition, where pilgrims bore around 62 percent of the BPIH through Bipih, while the value of benefits from BPKH contributed only about 38 percent. According to Dahnil, optimising the value of benefits to 60 percent next year is highly possible, based on current Hajj fund management calculations, including the accumulation of managed funds when pilgrim departures were delayed in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as limited departures in 2022.