Origins of Hajj Quota Corruption: Yaqut Received Letter from Private Sector
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has disclosed the origins of the alleged bribery case concerning the management and distribution of hajj quotas at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The case began with a letter sent by a private party to former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ).
“The letter was sent to brother YCQ with the aim of ‘maximising absorption of additional quotas,’” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Enforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu at the KPK’s Red and White Building in South Jakarta on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
Asep stated that the letter was prompted by an additional quota of 8,000 pilgrims in May 2023. In fact, the Minister of Religious Affairs at that time had agreed in a Commission VIII DPR meeting that the quota be allocated to regular pilgrims.
However, a private party communicated with the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Management at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Hilman Latief (HL). The communication explained that the private sector group was prepared to maximise absorption of the additional quota.
From this, Hilman proposed to Yaqut to distribute hajj quotas using a scheme of 92 per cent for regular pilgrims and 8 per cent for special pilgrims. This proposal contradicted the agreement already reached in the DPR.
“YCQ subsequently approved the proposal and issued Ministry of Religious Affairs Decision Number 467 of 2023 on 19 May 2023,” said Asep.
The quota for regular pilgrims thus became 7,360 in 2023. Meanwhile, special pilgrims received an additional 640 quotas.
The decision was approved by the DPR. From there, former Subdivision Head of Licensing, Accreditation and Development of Special Hajj Management at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Rizky Fisa Abadi (RFA) received instructions from former Special Staff to the Minister Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IIA) to relax the T0 policy, concerning hajj departures without queuing.
Following this instruction, Rizky met with hajj associations to discuss the additional special quota. From this, Rizky promised hajj travel without queuing and the ability to bypass the order.
However, travel service providers had to pay USD 5,000 per pilgrim to obtain this special treatment. Subsequently, the visas of prospective hajj pilgrims were changed from regular (mujamalah) to special.
In this case, the KPK has detained former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. The coercive measure applies for 20 days and can be extended.
The KPK has designated former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ) and former Special Staff to the Minister of Religious Affairs Isfan Abidal Aziz (IAA), alias Gus Alex, as suspects in the alleged bribery case concerning the management and distribution of hajj quotas. The KPK has pledged to bring the case to trial.
The problem in this hajj quota corruption case stems from quota distribution that does not comply with applicable regulations. Indonesia was actually granted an additional 20,000 quotas to accelerate the hajj queue.
From this total, the government should have distributed it with a percentage of 92 per cent for regular hajj and 8 per cent for special hajj. However, several parties instead divided it equally, each receiving 50 per cent.
The KPK has extensively questioned officials at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Officials from travel and umrah service providers were also requested to provide statements, including Islamic preacher Ustaz Khalid Basalamah.
The KPK has formally detained former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ) until 31 March 2026 in connection with the hajj quota corruption case. According to investigations, the suspect allegedly received fees of IDR 84.4 million per quota through the T0 code. The KPK has revealed that the state loss in the hajj quota corruption case reached IDR 622 billion. The DPR Commission III member Rudianto Lallo expressed full support for the KPK’s decision to detain the former Minister of Religious Affairs.