Member of Dompet Dhuafa’s Sharia Supervisory Board K.H. Wahfiudin Sakam Bahrum testifying as an expert for the Petitioners in the judicial review hearing of Law No. 23 of 2011 on Zakat Management, Friday (5/10/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Deputy Head of the Education and Cadre Formation Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Member of the Sharia Supervisory Board of Dompet Dhuafa, K.H. Wahfiudin Sakam Bahrum, testified as an expert for the Petitioners in the judicial review of Law No. 23 of 2011 on Zakat Management under case No. 97/PUU-XXII/2024 at the Court. Wahfiudin argued that the state should not interfere in the management of zakat among Muslims.

"The state should not interfere in the management of zakat among Muslims if it does not intervene in the religious finances of other faiths, such as Persepuluhan (a tithe in Batak Christian communities)," Wahfiudin asserted during the evidentiary hearing on Friday (9/5/2025) in the plenary courtroom of the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.

He emphasized that the state must prevent zakat distribution to parties with political interests, be they institutions or individuals, in order to uphold social justice. The role of the Amil Zakat National Agency (BAZNAS) has become increasingly dominant since the enactment of Law 23/2011, as it has been entrusted with various authorities within the zakat ecosystem, including the authority to issue recommendations for permits to Institute of Amil Zakat (LAZ).

Wahfiudin stated that state involvement in zakat governance across Muslim-majority countries varies significantly. Of 19 Islamic countries, three countries, including Morocco, Tunisia, and Afghanistan, do not involve the state in zakat management.

Meanwhile, some countries that do not identify as Islamic states but have a Muslim-majority population, such as Turkey, also refrain from regulating zakat. Turkey, which declares itself a secular state in its constitution with a 98.14 percent Muslim population, does not regulate zakat governance. Zakat in Turkey is managed by local institutions resembling LAZs.

According to Wahfiudin, Indonesia's zakat governance is marked by legal and conceptual ambiguity. This ambiguity arises because Indonesia is neither a religious state nor a secular state, making it challenging to adopt comparative models from other nations. Therefore, Indonesia needs a sui generis model that incorporates both sociological and legal aspects.

A tailor-made model for Indonesia, he argued, should be constructed from specific case studies rather than broad quantitative data. Only a few countries offer workable references due to the distinctive relationship between religion and the state in Indonesia.

Given these distinctive circumstances, Indonesia cannot simply replicate models from other countries. The most suitable approach would be for the state to play a supervisory role, primarily ensuring the quality of community-managed LAZs. Fundamentally, zakat collection and distribution should remain the responsibility of civil society institutions.

However, the model could also be reversed: the state may establish its own LAZ that functions solely as a zakat operator, like community-based LAZs. Meanwhile, regulation, supervision, and auditing should rest with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Meanwhile, Dodik Siswantoro, a consultant at the Center for Accounting Development, University of Indonesia, also testified as a Petitioners' expert witness during the evidentiary hearing. He argued that LAZs applying for permits to manage zakat lack independence, as BAZNAS operates as both regulator and operator in similar domains. LAZs face numerous licensing hurdles, whereas BAZNAS does not.

Additionally, Banu Muhammad, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, presented findings of a public perception survey on the government’s involvement in zakat management in Indonesia. The results indicate that the public generally supports the government’s involvement in managing Islamic Social Fund (DSI), including zakat, but does not want the government to be the sole manager.

Instead, respondents favor a strategic partnership between the government and community-based DSI managers. However, they also perceive a substantial gap between this expectation and the current state of affairs.

The study also showed that the performance of government and community-based DSI institutions is nearly equivalent in terms of overall achievement. However, community-based institutions tend to outperform their government counterparts in several key areas: (i) effective distribution, (ii) positive donor perception, (iii) essential community roles, (iv) greater impact compared to non-institutional distribution, (v) achievement of zakat objectives, and (vi) public trust. As for captive markets, public opinion is divided on whether zakat collection should be limited to civil servants and government agencies.

In terms of optimal policy, the study concluded that all stakeholders agree on the importance of strategic partnerships between the government and the community in zakat management. Historically, zakat has existed as a pillar of Islamic teachings long before the Indonesian state was founded. With or without the state, zakat will persist.

"So the community must be a genuine partner, not merely assist the government. Nevertheless, respondents believe a significant gap remains between expectations and the actual implementation of such partnerships in DSI management," Banu concluded.

Also read:

Dompet Dhuafa and Forum Zakat Revise Petition on Zakat Management Law Review

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LAZISNU Argues the Enactment of Zakat Management Law Improves Public Trust

Testimony Hearing on Zakat Management Law Review Postponed

Constitutional Law Expert: Zakat Management a Communal Right of the Muslim Community

Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation, the Jakarta Zakat Forum Association, and an individual named Arif Rahmadi Haryono filed the petition. All three Petitioners are actively engaged in zakat management. For this case, they are represented by legal counsels Bambang Widjojanto and Denny Indrayana.

As zakat contributors (muzaki), the Petitioners claim to have suffered harm due to the provisions on zakat management under several articles of Law 23/2011. Community-based LAZs have long engaged in public education, campaigns, and awareness-raising concerning Zakat, Infaq, and Sadaqah (ZIS).

They expect a balanced distribution of roles and responsibilities between BAZNAS and LAZs, similar to the coexistence of state-owned and private banks, which differ from Bank Indonesia as the regulator. Bank Indonesia handles monetary policy, oversees the financial system, and maintains the rupiah’s stability.

The Petitioners argued that Article 5(1), both implicitly and explicitly, mandates BAZNAS to take over zakat collection, a function that had long been carried out by community institutions, thereby disregarding their historical role. At one point, to help BAZNAS gain experience in zakat management, it collaborated with Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation in a joint initiative known as Baznas Dompet Dhuafa.

According to the Petitioners, the law fails to recognize the foundational contributions of existing zakat institutions and does not accommodate the presence and role of community-based LAZs.

In their petitums, the Petitioners request the Court to declare Articles 38 and 43(4) of Law No. 23 of 2011 as being in contradiction with the 1945 Constitution and therefore not legally binding. Additionally, they ask for a constitutional reinterpretation of Articles 5(1), 6(1), 7(1), 16(1), 17, 18(2), 19, 20, 41, and 43(3) in accordance with their arguments.

Author: Mimi Kartika
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR: Fauzan Febriyan
Translator: Siti Rosmalina Nurhayati / Yuanna Sisilia

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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