The Facts of the Hajj Quota Case Ensnaring Yaqut: Orders to Distribute Quotas Until Fees Received
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as a suspect in a case of alleged irregularities in hajj quotas for 2023-2034 on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
“Today, the KPK has detained the suspect, YCQ, for the first 20 days from 12-31 March 2026. The detention is being carried out at the KPK’s Gedung Merah Putih Detention Centre,” said KPK Enforcement and Execution Deputy Asep Guntur Rahayu, during a press conference at Gedung Merah Putih, Jakarta, on Thursday.
According to Asep, the case originated in June 2023, when Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah informed Indonesia that it would receive a hajj quota for the year 1445 H/2024 M comprising 221,000 pilgrims (basic quota) and 2,210 officer quota.
During that meeting, Indonesia was informed it would receive an additional quota of 20,000.
“This additional quota was necessary because of the lengthy hajj queue in Indonesia, which extends to 47 years,” he said.
Subsequently, in November 2023, Yaqut Cholil issued a Ministerial Decree (KMA) Number 1005 of 2023 regarding Indonesia’s hajj quota for 2024.
Under this decree, Indonesia’s 2024 hajj quota was set at 221,000 pilgrims, divided into 203,320 regular hajj quotas and 17,680 special hajj quotas. This remained the basic quota.
Following this, in early November, a working meeting was held between the Minister of Religion and Commission VIII of the Indonesian Parliament regarding the financial accountability report for the implementation of the 2023 hajj and the Minister’s report on additional hajj quotas for Indonesia in 1445 H/2024 M.
“During this working meeting, the Minister of Religion stated that the additional hajj quota for Indonesia for 2024, totalling 20,000, would be divided as 92 per cent for regular hajj, making it 18,400, and 8 per cent for special hajj, making it 1,600,” he said.
In November 2023, there was communication between the technical staff of the Indonesian Hajj Bureau in Jeddah and Yaqut’s special assistant, Ishfah Abidal Aziz, known as Gus Alex, that the e-hajj application had been activated and Indonesia’s 2024 hajj quota of 221,000 pilgrims had been entered into e-hajj.
The KPK stated that this quota remained the basic hajj quota without any additional quota.
After receiving this information, Gus Alex conveyed that the additional 20,000 quota should be divided equally or on a 50:50 basis, based on orders from Yaqut.
“Subsequently, communications continued regarding the 50:50 division, including plans to separate the distribution of the additional 20,000 quota from the basic 221,000 quota,” he said.
Asep stated that Gus Alex discussed and provided technical guidance on the scheme for dividing the additional quota with Saudi Arabian officials so that the decision to divide the additional quota 50:50 would appear not to violate the law.
He added that in these communications, Gus Alex mentioned that the individual had discussed the matter and received guidance from Yaqut in his capacity as Minister of Religion.
In November 2023, a meeting was held between the SATHU Forum, initiated by SATHU Forum Steering Committee Chair Fuad Hasan Masyur, and Yaqut.
“The meeting was also attended by several officials of the Association of Travel Agencies affiliated with the SATHU Forum. The meeting discussed, among other matters, the SATHU Forum’s request to manage the additional special hajj quota at more than 8 per cent,” he said.
In November 2023, a working committee meeting between Commission VIII of the Indonesian Parliament and the Ministry of Religion agreed on the hajj operational cost budget using a quota calculation basis of 241,000 (which already included the additional quota), divided into 221,720 (92 per cent) for regular hajj and 19,280 (8 per cent) for special hajj.
In that meeting, the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) committed to covering hajj costs based on the 92 per cent and 8 per cent division scheme.
“This is in accordance with Article 64, paragraph 2 of Law Number 8 of 2019 regarding the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah, which states, ‘Special hajj quotas shall be set at 8 per cent of Indonesia’s hajj quota’,” he said.