Minister Of Religion Denies Issues Of Providing 2,000 Hajj Quota For Religious Figures

Minister Of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas/DOK SPECIAL

Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas dismissed the issue of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) providing 2,000 servings of hajj quota in the implementation of the 1444 Hijri/2023 AD pilgrimage for religious leaders.

"There is clearly no quota of 2,000 religious figures. Fake news that I don't think needs to be developed. Because it is impossible for us to provide quotas of 2,000, especially to certain people even though they are religious figures," said Minister of Religion YaqutCholilQoumas as reported by ANTARA, Monday, September 18.

The clarification answered a question from one of the members of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Selly Andriany Change, during a working meeting to evaluate Hajj with the Ministry of Religion.

Selly conveyed this after she received questions from a number of scholars in several areas regarding 2,000 quotas for ulama.

"Many scholars have asked us whether in 2024 there will be the same quota submitted by the Ministry of Religion for religious figures of 2,000 servings who only pay Rp90 million? While we at Commission VIII don't know," said Selly.

Minister of Religion Yaqut emphasized that it is impossible for the Ministry of Religion to provide quotas free of charge, including to religious leaders.

This is because the determination of the quota and the departing pilgrims is under the law, so that it becomes impossible for the Ministry of Religion to provide quotas for 2,000 clerics for free.

"Because it is impossible for us to provide a quota of 2,000, especially to certain people, even though it is a religious figure. We know that this quota is already bound by law, it must be registered for those who enter the queue who get it," said Minister of Religion Yaqut.