Preventing Zakat Funds From Terrorism, Ministry Of Religion Collaborates With BNPT

Director of Zakat and Waqf Empowerment, Ministry of Religion Tarmizi/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion cooperates with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Ministry of Social Affairs to strengthen supervision of the circulation of the Amil Zakat Institution (LAZ) charity box, to prevent misappropriation of zakat, Infaq, and Alms (ZIS) funds.

"The distribution of zakat must be by-laws and sharia rules to prevent these funds from being misused to finance terrorist activities", said the Director of Zakat and Waqf Empowerment at the Ministry of Religion, Tarmizi Tohor, in a written statement received in Jakarta, Thursday, January 27.

Tarmizi said this synergy step was made to prevent cases such as the Abdurrohman Bin Auf Amil Zakat Institution (LAZ ABA) from recurring. LAZ ABA is known to use ZIS funds to finance illegal activities.

"From the results of the investigation and investigation by the police, it turns out that the charity boxes owned by LAZ ABA are scattered in various areas with a total of about 6,000 pieces", he said.

He explained that LAZ, which will place charity boxes in public areas such as minimarkets, restaurants, and roadside, must first take care of licensing to the Ministry of Religion to be transparent in the distribution of people's funds in the future.

"The distribution of zakat must be by-laws and sharia rules to prevent these funds from being misused to finance terrorist activities", he said.

According to him, in obtaining permits, LAZ must meet the requirements as an Islamic community organization that manages the fields of education, da'wah, social work, and is a legal entity by Law no. 23 of 2011 article 18.

LAZs that apply for permits must also be non-profit in nature, have a zakat utilization program for the welfare of the people, be willing to be audited for sharia and their finances regularly.

"The main capital to achieve the word professional is that LAZ must be licensed", he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Sub-Directorate for Accreditation and Sharia Audit of Zakat Institutions, Muhibuddin, said that licensing is not government intervention in the management of people's social funds, but rather to improve governance and accountability.

"To avoid misperceptions, what we monitor is only charity boxes from LAZ or BAZ in public places, not charity boxes in houses of worship", he said.