Zakat In BUMN Has Unclear Results, Erick Thohir Urges To Distribute It Through BAZNAS

Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of SOEs)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir appealed to state-owned companies so that the zakat program in each BUMN is coordinated or distributed through an official government institution, namely BAZNAS. Erick doesn't want zakat in BUMN to be managed separately, with no visible results.

For your information, the Ministry of BUMN has just collaborated with BAZNAS to realize the zakat program within the BUMN environment.

Erick said this was in line with the spirit of Law Number 23 of 2011 and Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 14 of 2014 regarding the duties of BAZNAS as the manager of zakat, infaq, and shadaqah funds (ZIS), as well as other religious social funds (DSKL).

"I hope that zakat in BUMN can be distributed through BAZNAS because the law is clear. I don't want this zakat to be managed individually without visible results. The zakat distributed by BAZNAS can be used for the development of generations of Muslims, which today is still the biggest challenge," he said in a written statement, quoted on Friday, January 21.

Furthermore, Erick said that as a country with the largest number of Muslims in the world, the government and SOEs are responsible for the future generations of Indonesian Muslims.

Through the consolidation of zakat with BAZNAS, Erick hopes that superior programs can be created together in preparing professional and highly educated Muslim youth.

"I also want to consolidate this zakat as a big engine to prepare our young generation so that they can prepare themselves to take higher education, of course in the future this can become the backbone of Indonesia's future sustainability, not only in terms of leadership, business opportunities, opportunities to become excellent professionals," he explained.

"This is the era of the knowledge-based economy, where economic growth is built because of human intelligence, so we must improve the capabilities of our human resources," continued Erick.

In addition, Erick hopes that all SOE Directors can unite in supporting this zakat program. He also emphasized that he would form a supervision team for zakat management in BUMN.