Director General of Islamic Community Guidance of the Ministry of Religion, Kamaruddin Amin delivering the government testimony on the judicial review hearing of Law Number 23 of 2011 on the Management of Zakat at the Plenary Courtroom, Thursday (17/10). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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Jakarta, MKRI -  Director General of Islamic Community Guidance of the Ministry of Religion, Kamaruddin Amin, stated the National Zakat Agency (BAZNAS and the Amil Zakat Institution (LAZ) are complementary in the zakat management system. Kamaruddin delivered the government testimony during the judicial review hearing of Law Number 23 of 2011 on the Zakat Management, Case Number 97/PUU-XXII/2024, on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

“BAZNAS's role as a state institution is to ensure that zakat management is conducted fairly, equitably, and in accordance with national policy. On the other hand, LAZ established by the communities, organizations, and individuals gave greater flexibility in reaching out to certain communities and running innovative programs which BAZNAS may not be able to reach,” Kamaruddin explained.

Kamaruddin continued that in performing its functions, BAZNAS, as stipulated in Article 7 of Law Number 23 of 2011, does not intend to dominate or weaken the LAZ roles. Instead, it creates a better synergy among zakat management institutions so it can achieve more optimal results. The relations, as stipulated in Article 19, are based on the coordination principle instead of subordination, where BAZNAS acts as a regulator or director. Meanwhile, LAZ plays a role as a zakat management partner at various levels.

Therefore, BAZNAS and LAZ complement each other in the effort to collect and distribute zakat instead of competing in an unequal relationship. On the other hand, the synergy between these two types of institutions, Kamaruddin claimed, aims to strengthen the networks of zakat management across Indonesia. BAZNAS plays its role as a policy guidance body and main regulator that determines standards, while LAZ has autonomy in operating zakat management based on the regulation. The main goal is to create a more efficient and fair system for collecting and distributing zakat.

According to Kamaruddin, there is no specific and actual or at least potential harm that, based on logical reasoning, can be ascertained to have occurred due to the enactment of Law Number 23 of 2011, as argued by the Petitioners. Their activities are not hindered in any way by the enactment of Law Number 23 of 2011, which is being reviewed. The Petitioners’ human rights as guaranteed by Article 27 paragraph (1), Article 28C paragraph (2), Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28E paragraph (1), Article 28 H paragraph (2), Article 28I paragraph (2), Article 28I paragraph (5), Article 29 paragraph (1) and paragraph (2), and Article 33 paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution are not reduced, eliminated, restricted, complicated, or harmed by the enactment of the provisions of Law Number 23 of 2011.

“The Petitioners are not hindered in collecting, distributing, and using zakat as a result of the provisions a quo regarding the establishment of BAZNAS, where BAZNAS is an independent non-structural government institution and answers to the President through the Minister of Religion,” he said.

He emphasized that the purpose of zakat management, based on Law Number 23 of 2011, is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the service and increase the zakat benefit to achieve the community’s welfare and poverty alleviation. In Law Number 23 of 2011, the goal of zakat management is the establishment of BAZNAS as an independent, non-structured government institution that answers to the President through a minister. BAZNAS has the authority to manage zakat nationally including zakat maal and zakat fitrah. In conducting the task of managing zakat nationally, BAZNAS has functions in terms of planning, implementing, controlling, and reporting the collection, distribution, and utilization of zakat.

To assist BAZNAS in the implementation of the collection, distribution, and utilization of zakat, the community can form LAZ. To implement the follow-up of zakat management as stipulated in Law Number 23 of 2011, Government Regulation Number 14 of 2014 on the Implementation of Law Number 23 of 2011 on Zakat Management has been established which implements the provisions of Article 13, Article 14 paragraph (2), Article 16 paragraph (2), Article 20, Article 24, Article 29 paragraph (6), Article 33 paragraph (1) and Article 36 paragraph (2) and Minister of Religious Affairs Regulation Number 52 of 2014 on the Conditions and Procedures for Calculating Zakat Mal and Zakat Fitrah as well as the Utilization of Zakat for Productive Enterprises.

Also read:

Dompet Dhuafa, Jakarta Zakat Forum Challenge Zakat Management Law

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The Petitioners of Case Number 97/PUU-XXII/2024 consist of Yayasan Dompet Dhuafa Republika, Perkumpulan Forum Zakat Jakarta, and individual Arif Rahmadi Haryono. They appointed Bambang Widjojanto and Denny Indrayana to be part of the legal team. The Petitioners, both as institutions and private individuals, in their activities are closely related to the practice of zakat management.

Petitioners who are muzaki (zakat operators) found themselves obstructed and harmed in their activities due to regulations regarding zakat management under articles and paragraphs contained in Law No. 23 of 2011 that are deemed harmful. The community organizations that have been established have and are still conduction education, campaigns, and dissemination about Zakat, Infak Sedekah (ZIS) gradually until now.

The Amil Zakat Institution (LAZ), which has existed for a long time, hoped that Baznas and LAZ would have equal roles and duties. They cited the regulation regarding state and private banks, which are equal, as well as the role of the Bank of Indonesia, which is responsible for monetary policy, regulating and supervising the financial system, and maintaining the stability of the rupiah.

The Petitioners deemed that the existence of Article 5 paragraph (1) implicitly and explicitly shows that the main purpose of the establishment of Baznas is to take over the collection of zakat that has been done by the community to be managed by the state and negate the history of the community management of zakat. In fact, when Baznas was newly established, to provide learning and experience to Baznas, there was cooperation in the management of zakat between Baznas and Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation, known as Baznas Dompet Dhuafa. The cooperation was done because Baznas has no experience in managing zakat.

According to the Petitioners, the regulations deny the history. For example, they excluded the zakat management institutions that existed before Baznas was established in the drafting of regulations regarding zakat management. The Law also does not facilitate the zakat management community.

On the petitum, the Petitioners plead the Court to declare Article 38 and Article 43 paragraph (4) contradict the 1945 Constitution and do not have legally binding power. Meanwhile, the Petitioners also ask the Court to re-interpret Article 5 paragraph (1), Article 6 paragraph (1), Article 7 paragraph (1), Article 16 paragraph (1), Article 17, Article 18 paragraph (2), Article 19, Article 20, Article 41, and Article 43 paragraph (3) as per their requests. (*)

Author: Mimi Kartika
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR: Fauzan Febriyan

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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