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View all search resultsAnalysis: Yaqut 10th member of Jokowi cabinet to face graft charges
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Former religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (center, in white shirt) leaves the South Jakarta headquarters of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Sept. 1, 2025, following his second interrogation as a witness in an ongoing probe into alleged misallocation of the haj quota in 2024 when he was a minister. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named former religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas a suspect in connection with alleged graft in the administration of the haj pilgrimage in 2024.
The case centers on the misuse of haj quotas, an issue that has historically plagued the ministry. The scandal involves substantial financial resources and implicates several prominent figures from Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
KPK director of investigations Brig. Gen. Asep Guntur Rahayu revealed that Yaqut is accused of unilaterally misallocating an additional haj quota of 20,000 pilgrims obtained from the Saudi Arabian government in 2024.
According to the investigation, Yaqut, a politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB), split the additional quota evenly: 50 percent for the regular haj and 50 percent for the more expensive special haj. This allegedly contravened the Administration of the Haj and Umrah Law, which mandates that 92 percent of the quota be allocated to the regular haj and only 8 percent to the special haj.
The additional quota was secured in late 2023, when then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to address waiting times for Indonesian pilgrims that can span decades. Saudi Arabia subsequently granted the extra 20,000 spots to Indonesia as a state, not for private discretionary distribution.
Yaqut is suspected of causing the largest financial damage in the history of religious ministry corruption. Estimated state losses reach into the trillions of rupiah. In comparison, previous corruption cases under ministers Said Agil Husin Al Munawar (2001–2004) and Suryadharma Ali (2009–2014) involved losses of hundreds of billions and Rp 27 billion, respectively.
The alleged mismanagement reportedly prevented 8,400 prospective regular pilgrims from departing for the Holy Land.
