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Director General of Hajj and Umrah Implementation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Nizar Ali, reading the Government\'s statement on the Law on Hajj Funds Management on Tuesday (26/9) in the Plenary Hall of the Constitutional Court Building. Photo by PR/Ganie.

The benefits of Hajj funds can potentially increase if it is invested. This was conveyed by the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Implementation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Nizar Ali who represented the Government in the hearing of Law No. 34/2014 on Hajj Funds Management. The third hearing of the petition filed by Muhammad Sholeh was held by the Constitutional Court (MK), Tuesday (26/9). 

According to the Government, the accumulation of hajj pilgrimage funds that had accumulated due to the waiting period imposed by the Saudi Arabian government has a lot of potential. One of the benefits is the increased quality, rationality, and efficiency of hajj pilgrimage for the Muslim community. 

"Thus, increase in the benefits of hajj funds pilgrimage can only be achieved through effective, efficient, transparent, and accountable financial management. To ensure optimum financial management of the hajj funds, an a quo law has covered it," said Nizar in the session of Case No 51/PUU-XV/2017. 

The government also assessed that the Petitioners had misinterpreted the meaning of prudent investment with profitable sharia principles. In essence, any kind of investment will incur a risk of loss. So, the main party to suffer the losses is the Hajj Fund Management Agency (BPKH)and not the Petitioners. 

"Thus, the provision of hajj pilgrimage initial deposit by BPKH is carried out by considering the aspects of security, prudence, benefits, and liquidity, as well as losses incurred as a result of mismanagement or negligence of management in the placement of hajj funds investments borne jointly by members of BPKH implementing body and supervisory board members," explained Nizar before the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Arief Hidayat, as chairman of the hearing and eight other Constitutional Court Justices. 

As for the Petitioners\' argument about the initial deposit proposed by the Hajj Management Body (BPIH) being too large, the Government explained that the initial deposit was intended to provide legal guarantees for every candidate pilgrim. In addition, Nizar added that the initial deposit was intended to demonstrate the financial ability and commitment of the pilgrims and served filters for prospective pilgrims. If the initial deposit was low, he added, it was feared that pilgrims would too easily register or cancel themselves for their departure. 

"If every Indonesian citizen made a very low BPIH deposit, it would extend the waiting list, causing chaos, commotion, and legal uncertainty because hajj requires transparent, accountable, and professional planning and management," Nizar said. 

Nizar also claimed that the material of the articles being reviews should not chapter by chapter, but must consecutively. Broadly speaking, the Hajj Funds Management Law was formed on the basis that hajj pilgrimage is a pillar of Islam that must be implemented by every Muslim, and the implementation is strongly influenced by the quota policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, its implementation should be based on the principle of justice for equal opportunities for every Indonesian Muslim citizen. 

Forms of Hajj Fund Investments

In the Government’s statement, Director of Hajj Funds Management and Integrated Hajj Information System, Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah Implementation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Ramadhan Harisman regretted that the hajj funds were not utilized through banking investments. Moreover, the hajj funds were increasing because of the increasing prospective pilgrims. Harisman said that the Hajj Funds Management Law would actually increase the investment benefits of the funds. 

"In real calculation, a hajj pilgrim in 2017 has to pay Rp34,800,000, while the fund required reaches Rp61,5 million rupiah per pilgrim. Through the investments, the Government covered the financing of the hajj pilgrimage for all pilgrims," Harisman explained. 

The investment products chosen by the Government for the hajj funds are only Sharia Sovereign Bonds (SBSN) and Islamic banking products. Both, Harisman continued, were guaranteed by law and the management risks were very low with high benefits. 

At the end of the hearing, Arief also said that the hearing will resume on Monday, October 9, 2017. The hearing was scheduled to hear the statements of the House of Representatives (DPR) as well as witnesses and experts from the Petitioners. 

In his petition, Sholeh claimed that his constitutional right were violated due to the enacment of three articles, namely Article 24 letter a, Article 46 paragraph (2), and Article 48 paragraph (2) of the Hajj Funds Management Law. The Petitioner registered as a pilgrim candidate at the Office of Ministry of Religious Affairs in Sidoarjo, East Java, by depositing Rp20 million funds on February 13, 2008. However, the Petitioner never received explanation whether the deposited fund would be invested. According to the Petitioner, it would violate his constitutional rights if his hajj funds were used for investment without approval. Therefore, the Petitioner requested that the Panel of Justices cancel the commencement of the three articles.

(Sri Pujianti/LA/ Yuniar Widiastuti)

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