Zakat for the Protection of Fishermen

The fatwa issued by the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) regarding the distribution of zakat, infak, and sadaqah (ZIS) for social security contributions represents one of the most significant social breakthroughs in recent years. More than merely a religious decision, it opens new policy space: religious solidarity can be operationalised into concrete social protection systems.

In its statement, the MUI Fatwa Number 102 of 2025 provided examples of vulnerable workers including Quranic teachers and online motorcycle taxi drivers. Both indeed face economic uncertainty and limited social protection coverage. However, from the perspective of someone who has spent years interacting directly with coastal communities, there is one worker group that equally deserves attention and faces far more extreme maritime risks: small-scale fishermen.

These fishermen maintain the nation’s protein supply chain daily. They are not supplementary to the national food system but foundational to it. Their presence dominates over 90% of Indonesia’s fishermen distribution. Yet approximately 69.34% remain in extreme poverty, with far insufficient protection regarding occupational safety and health at sea.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed how extreme weather has struck coastal regions across various areas. Flash floods, high waves, strong winds, and dyke collapses have become recurring news. For urban populations, these may be merely seasonal disaster reports. For small fishermen, they represent daily decisions involving life and death.

The author recalls a conversation with a fisherman on Java’s northern coast. He said simply, “If I don’t fish, my child doesn’t eat. If I fish, I’m not certain I’ll return home.” This is not metaphor. It is occupational reality.

A survey compiled by the Data and Information Centre of the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Association (KNTI) in January 2025 revealed a situation far from normal. The survey covered 41 districts/cities where KNTI members operate. Nearly all coastal villages were affected by severe weather. Approximately 95% experienced adverse weather conditions and 67% of small fishermen ceased fishing.

Moreover, the majority (87%) received no adequate economic protection or occupational safety guarantees. Assistance that arrived was generally emergency in nature: food packages, safety appeals, or occasional logistical aid. All of this matters, but fails to address root problems.

Fishermen’s occupational risk is not an incidental occurrence but a permanent condition inherent to the profession.

State Recognition

Legally, the state has not been negligent. Law Number 7 of 2016 has mandated protection for fishermen. However, in policy practice, normative recognition has not translated into operational protection.

There exists a considerable gap between regulation and implementation. At least three structural problems are evident.

First, fishermen protection regulations have not been fully translated into clear operational mechanisms. Many policies remain at the level of obligation statements without concrete implementation instruments in the field.

Second, fishermen’s social protection has not become a fiscal priority. The state continues allocating more resources to consumption-based social assistance than to long-term occupational risk protection.

Third, our social security system design is fundamentally built for formal workers with stable income. Small fishermen work independently with fluctuating incomes. They fall outside the system’s design logic.

Consequently, occupational risk is borne individually. When accidents occur, they face the consequences alone.

Zakat’s Relevance

At this juncture, the MUI fatwa becomes strategically significant, not merely religiously but also for public policy.

Until now, we have primarily viewed zakat as a poverty relief instrument. This fatwa promotes a new perspective: zakat can become a financing mechanism for preventive social protection. Not merely helping after crisis strikes, but protecting before risk becomes disaster.

From a modern social policy perspective, solidarity-based protection is the foundation of risk pooling—collective burden sharing of risks.

The state typically performs this function through taxation and social security. However, when state fiscal capacity and administrative reach are limited, solidarity instruments like zakat can reinforce the system.

This means zakat is not a state substitute. It is a structural partner expanding the state’s capacity to protect citizens. If zakat can be used to pay social security contributions for vulnerable workers, then the primary obstacle facing small fishermen—inability to pay regular premiums—can be overcome.

They can enter protection systems without awaiting major changes in the state’s fiscal structure.

However, we cannot stop at solidarity romanticism. For this policy to function, system integration becomes paramount. At least three matters relate to system integration. First, there must be unified data mechanisms between zakat management institutions and the Labour Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) to ensure premium subsidies reach their targets.

Without clear databases, policies will easily leak or miss targets. Second, the government must establish protection priorities based on occupational risk levels. Professions with high safety risks like small-scale fishing must be placed at the forefront of beneficiaries.

Third, governance must be transparent. Zakat funds are public trusts. Their application to social protection must be measurable in impact, auditable, and openly reported.

If this integration occurs, we do not merely distribute assistance. We build more inclusive social protection systems.

Imbalanced Protection

One fundamental question we must ask as a nation remains to be fully addressed: why those who risk their lives to provide food remain among the most unprotected in our society.