Ministry of Religious Affairs is an Indonesian ministry that administers religious affairs. It is responsible to the president, and is led by a minister.
History
Plans for the creation of a Ministry of Religious Affairs was proposed for first time in the meeting of Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence by Muhammad Yamin at 11 July 1945. He proposed to create special religion-related ministry, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which ensures Indonesian Muslim affairs. However, this proposal didn't gather much reception. For a second time the creation of a Ministry of Religious Affairs was proposed in session of Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence at 19 August 1945. The proposal was accepted by six from 27 members. Johannes Latuharhary, who rejected the proposal, proposed to handle religion affairs in Ministry of Education. Abdul Abbas supported Johannes' proposal. Iwa Kusumasumatri agreed that religious affairs should be handled by the ministry, however rejected the creation of special-religion ministry because of national scope of government. Ki Hadjar Dewantara proposed that religious affairs should be handled by Ministry of Home Affairs. The session rejected the creation of Ministry of Religious Affairs. Thus, Ministry of Religious Affairs had not been created until First Sjahrir Cabinet. Creation of Ministry of Religious Affairs was re-proposed, for a 3rd time to Badan Pekerja Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat at 11 November 1946 by K.H. Abudardiri, K.H. Saleh Suaidy, and M. Sukoso Wirjosaputro. This proposal was also supported by Mohammad Natsir, Muwardi, Marzuki Mahdi, and Kartosudarmo. The proposal was accepted during the sessions of the Committee on 25–28 November 1945, thus the Ministry of Religious Affairs was created at 3 January 1946 with Haji Mohammad Rasjidi as Minister of Religious Affairs. Haji Mohammad Rasjidi was State Minister at the time that handled Islamic affairs. Ministry of Religious Affairs was taking over marriage, religious court, mosque and hajj affairs from Ministry of Home Affairs, Islamic High Court from Ministry of Justice and religious education from Ministry of Education, Pedagogy and Culture. Some people hold view that Ministry of Religious Affairs is not a new creation. Ministry of Religious Affairs can be traced back to Japanese Colonial Period or Dutch Colonial Period. Sometime, people traced it back to Islamic kingdoms period.
Portfolio and Function
Organization
Ministry of Religious Affairs is organized into several units. Secretariat and Inspectorate
