President Jokowi Plans Money Waqf Movement, Tengku Zulkarnain: Let The Waqf Money Be Managed By The People

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - Regarding the money waqf movement (GWU) which recently planned by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Tengku Zulkarnain gave his harsh criticism. He emphasized that waqf is a form of Islamic law, so he warned against becoming an interfaith teaching.

Through some of his tweets on his Twitter account, Tengku Zul touched on the main task of the state is to deal with poverty with the state budget. According to Tengku Zul, waqf should be managed by the people and their mass organizations.

"Waqf money is a form of Islamic Sharia. From Muslims to the Islamic faith", wrote Tengku Zul, quoted by VOI from the @ustadtengkuzul account, Thursday, January 28.

"Don't let us get involved in influencing Muslims to exchange Islamic law into interfaith teachings. Alleviating poverty is the task of the state using the state budget. Waqf is meant to be managed by the people and their mass organizations, OK?", he continued.

Build Infrastructure from the Waqf Fund ...? Is the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) Fund gone Bankrupt ...? The 6000 Trillion Debt Funds Are Depleted ...? ... No one knows ... Ho ... Ho ... Ho ... ... Ho ... "pic.twitter.com/kLLTvuRfMX

- tengkuzulkarnain (@ustadtengkuzul) January 27, 2021

In addition, Tengku Zul also posted a tweet saying that the money waqf movement should be grateful if its use is aimed at Muslims. He also emphasized that the majority of people in poverty in Indonesia are Muslims.

"Some say that Muslims are obliged to be grateful that the state is willing to manage Muslim's waqf", explained Tengku Zul.

"Yes, we are grateful for its use for Muslims. It should be realized that Muslims are the majority of people in poverty in this country. (Dare to quote Waqf, do you dare to quote Jizyah too?)" He continued again.

The netizens also gave various comments regarding their response to Tengku Zul's tweet. Some of them asked Tengku Zul about waqf and poverty.

"This means that absolute poverty is the duty of the state using the state budget, right? We cannot help the country either through zakat, infaq, shodaqoh or waqf? What about the term productive waqf?", asked the netizen with the @Fauzaid account.

"All this time, all waqf has helped the state. It is used in this country. The problem is the state wants to manage it. For infrastructure too ... Hem ...", answered Tengku Zul.

"Giving charity secretly is good, but openly giving charity is not prohibited. What is not allowed is not giving anything but openly quipping people who are giving charity", wrote @kangron.

Previously, the Government, through the Ministry of Finance, targeted to build a number of infrastructure facilities worth IDR 597 billion from waqf funds.

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the total waqf money that had been collected until December 2020 amounted to IDR 328 billion. This figure is an accumulation of community funds deposited in a number of banks receiving waqf funds.

In addition, the Minister of Finance also said that IDR 54 billion was an allocation from Cash Waqf Linked Sukuk (CWLS). Meanwhile, CWLS itself is a new instrument issued by the Ministry of Finance, in which the yields obtained are used to finance various social programs.

"Given the amount and enthusiasm of community participation in waqf, stakeholders or stakeholders will develop cash waqf management to strengthen the Islamic Social Safety Net", he said Monday, January 25.

Sri Mulyani added, efforts to encourage the sharia system to play a more role in the economy are aimed at creating a sustainable sharia ecosystem. Then, the Minister of Finance also said that the rapid economic and financial sectors of sharia, the Islamic social funds sector which includes zakat, infaq, shodaqoh, and waqf are also potential and strategic parts to be developed.

"Through trustworthy, transparent and professional management, cash waqf and waqf-based financial instruments can help accelerate national development and improve people's welfare", concluded Sri Mulyani.