The business of Hajj: a good source of dirty money

The Muslim around the world would go to Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage during the Hajj. The pilgrimage would bring them closer to their God and hopefully will turn that person into a better man. When they are in Mecca, they would pray and worship the God, walking around the Kabah, throwing stones to a well to denounce the evil and do some self reflection. This is impressive.

The cost of going there is not cheap. It is part of the tribulation to be willing to part with the material possessions and seek spiritual wealth. As such, they do not question the amount of money paid to the government agency, where the money goes and how transparent would it be used. Concentrate, close your eyes and ears. Don’t ask too much.

While the Muslim who go for Hajj get better off spiritually, the companies organizing it get richer financially. With the fixed quota of 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims annually, the captive monopoly market is very attractive. Poor service from the pre-departure accommodation at the Asrama Haji, the lodging and transport in Saudi Arabia and the quality of food become the norm. Garuda Indonesia even tried to maximize profit by increasing the flight capacity by adding more seas at the expense of the leg room.

The pilgrims are not encouraged to file complains, protest nor demonstrate. They are made to feel that this is part of the trial and tribulation that must be embraced with patience.

Another irony is the Dana Abadi Umat (DAU)scandal. The DAU collection is extremely efficient, from the regular payment of the pilgrims, the uncollected insurance paid by the pilgrims, the interest from the deposits paid and even the unused airline ticket in the case the pilgrims died at Saudi Arabia. The use and distribution of the fund, on the other hand, is far from being efficient and transparent. Billions of Rupiah collected since 1980s are gone and by 1999, there is only a paltry Rp 3 Million left.

It all boils down to one question, whether it is ethical to profit from one’s religious activity. The political leaders of the country, especially Minister of Religion and his Department, has shamelessly embezzle funds from the accounts. This is an extraordinary incident because it affects millions of Muslim worshippers. The minister, who is a Muslim and perhaps went to Mecca for Hajj, has shown little evidence of being a Muslim. Perhaps religion is just a wall to hide from the public scrutiny.

Islamic Defender Front (Front Pembela Islam – FPI) organized Muslim followers to wrech havoc at the office of Playboy Indonesia because they claimed that Playboy is the icon of pornography. While they make such claim, why cant they see an obviously more unethical stuff, which is the corruption within the Department of Religious Affairs. Do they mean that the act of producing suggestive magazine is less immoral that the blatant appropriation of worshippers and hence, God’s money.

I have shown the picture of one of the culprits in this malpractice. The media has brought up the issue of corruption and has a strong case against the ministers. I guess FPI should do something about them, perhaps “visiting” his house or the Departmental office itself rather than stoning the office of Playboy Indonesia.