Full Speech By Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas On The Ministry Of Religion National Gift For NU

JAKARTA - The statement by the Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas who said that the Ministry of Religion was a state gift for NU was heavily criticized. The editor tried to display the full transcript of Gus Yaqut's statement at that time.

For your information, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas alias Gus Yaqut said the Ministry of Religion was a 'state gift' for Nahdlatul Ulama in an International Webinar held by RMI-PBNU. This event was uploaded on TVNU's YouTube account and the editors transcribed all the statements of the minister of religion from the Channel.

... The Ministry of Religion's tagline is sincere in charity. I said, there is no sincerity, how come it was written. His name is iklas in the heart, how come iklas is written. This shows not sincere I said. Not being sincere means that maybe if there is help, then asking for a piece is not sincere, it looks like it helps but asking for a piece is not sincere. Sincere to do charity is not good, it's not when I say it

Then the debate developed into the history of the origin of the Ministry of Religion. Some say, one of the ustaz, the Ministry of Religion is a state gift for Muslims because at that time the debate shifted to this ministry, it should be the ministry of religion, protecting all the people of the state.

Some disagree. This ministry must be the ministry of Islamic religion. Because the ministry of religion is a state gift for Muslims, I deny it, no.

The state ministry is a state gift to NU not for Muslims in general but specifically for NU. So it is natural that NU is now taking advantage of the many opportunities that exist in the Ministry of Religion. Why is that? The Ministry of Religion emerged because of the deletion of 7 words in the Jakarta Charter, which suggested that Mbah Wahab Chasbullah was the conciliator of peace, and the Ministry of Religion was born because of that.

Now it's natural that we ask the Director General of Islamic Boarding Schools and then we get a lot of pesantren affirmations, we have lots of pesantren affirmations.

There are also those who protest, but why is it that they also affirm the Catholic and Buddhist systems. Eh, I said, NU is large, large, NU has many congregations and is physically large, and big people always tend to protect the weak and protect the small, and that's the nature of NU. NU is everywhere, it wants to protect the little ones, so if now the Ministry of Religion becomes the Ministry of all religions, it doesn't eliminate NU but instead emphasizes its NU's because NU is known to be the most tolerant and the most moderate.

I think this is the basis for our way of thinking in the Ministry of Religion which, God willing, is almost uniform, although there is still one, usually because we manage a large organization.