Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, faces an acute dilemma in organizing the Hajj pilgrimage. Although the public's interest and financial capability to fulfill the fifth pillar of Islam continue to increase, the limited quota capacity creates a departure queue stretching up to decades. This phenomenon is no longer merely an administrative hurdle, but has shifted to the realm of contemporary fiqh debates, public fund management, and the legal politics of Islamic economics.
Referring to operational data, Indonesia's current Hajj quota reaches 241,000 pilgrims, divided into 221,720 regular pilgrims and 19,280 special pilgrims. Although this is the largest quota in the world, this figure is far from sufficient to accommodate around 5.7 million prospective pilgrims on the national waiting list. As a result of this structural imbalance, the waiting period for departure in various regions now ranges from 11 to over 40 years.
To secure a queue portion in the Integrated Hajj Computerized System (SISKOHAT), prospective pilgrims are required to deposit an initial fee of IDR 25 million. As an illustration of the real cost, the average Hajj Pilgrimage Organizing Cost (BPIH) for 2026 is projected to reach IDR 87.4 million per person. Of this amount, pilgrims pay approximately IDR 54.1 million, while the remainder is subsidized through the benefit value of the funds managed by the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH), which by the end of 2025 had surpassed IDR 180.72 trillion.
Amidst this vast financial ecosystem, sharp criticism has emerged from academics and fiqh scholars, one of whom is KH. M. Shiddiq Al-Jawi. He highlighted the legitimacy of Hajj financing contracts that combine qardh (loan) and ijarah (service) instruments to facilitate the initial deposit. This legal construction is deemed problematic because it leads to the combination of two mutually binding contracts (shafqatain fi shafqah) for commercial profit, which contradicts basic Sharia principles.
The criticism also targets the redefinition of the concept of istitha'ah (capability) in modern Hajj implementation. From a strict Sharia perspective, the obligation of Hajj is only incumbent upon individuals who are truly financially capable without relying on debt. Thus, the use of banking financing facilities merely to secure a queue number is not considered to automatically satisfy the true threshold of istitha'ah.
From the perspective of legal politics, state-managed Hajj funds now serve as a vital liquidity pillar for the national Islamic banking industry following the enactment of the Islamic Banking Law No. 21 of 2008. The criticism of the DSN-MUI Fatwa No. 29/2002 serves as a reminder that religious fatwas should not merely be a rubber stamp to facilitate the interests of the financial industry. Public policy and the management of public funds must always be based on the substantive purity of Sharia contracts, not just formal labeling.
