Minister Of Religion Yaqut Opens Voice Of 'Ministry Of Religion A State Prize For NU,' Just Encouraging Santri

Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (Menag Twitter Photo)

JAKARTA - Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has opened his voice regarding his statement that the Ministry of Religion is a state gift for Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) which has drawn criticism.

According to Yaqut, the statement was a limited statement for NU's internal circles. He explained that the purpose of his statement was only to encourage the students and the Islamic boarding school. "Isn't that wrong? That's because it's internal," said Minister of Religion Yaqut to reporters on Monday, October 25.

Yaqut then made an analogy with his statement as when someone is making love under the moonlight. Instantly, he said, it would definitely be said that the world belongs to the two of them while the other is only a contract.

The Minister of Religion ensured that so far the Ministry of Religion's policies were not only for NU. Because, according to him, the Ministry of Religion gives proportional rights to mass organizations, not only NU circles.

In fact, he said, the Director General of Hajj and Umrah was led by Muhammadiyah cadres. Also, the Inspector General of the Ministry of Religion is also not from the NU circle.

"So it's normal, encouraging is natural, it's an internal forum. It's an internal forum, it's an encouraging context," said Minister of Religion Yaqut. Previously, Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas alias Gus Yaqut called the Ministry of Religion a 'state gift' for Nahdlatul Ulama or NU. Gus Yaqut's statement was delivered at an International Webinar event held held by RMI-PBNU and uploaded to TVNU's YouTube account, Wednesday, October 20.

At the event, initially Yaqut told of a small debate at the ministry when discussing the issue of the Ministry of Religion. He then revealed that he had a desire to change the logo or tagline of the Ministry of Religion 'Ikhlas Beramal'.

"I said, there is no sincerity, why is it written like that, the name is sincere in the heart, how sincere is it written, yes this shows that it is not sincere. Sincere to do charity is not good, it's not right when I say it," he added.

According to him, at that time the debate continued about the history of the origin of the Ministry of Religion. Gus Yaqut said that there was one ustaz who at that time did not agree that the Ministry of Religion should oversee all religions.

"There are those who disagree, 'This Ministry must be the Ministry of Islamic Religion' because the Ministry of Religion is a state gift for Muslims. for NU'. So it's only natural that now NU is taking advantage of the many opportunities that exist in the Ministry of Religion because the prize is for NU," said Minister of Religion Yaqut.