Ministry of Religious Affairs (Indonesia)

The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Indonesian: Kementerian Agama) is an Indonesian ministry that administers religious affairs. It is responsible to the president, and is led by a minister.
Plans for the creation of a Ministry of Religious Affairs was proposed for first time in the meeting of the Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence by Mohammad Yamin on 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.
The creation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs was proposed for the second time in a session of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence on 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.
The creation of the Ministry of the Religious Affairs was re-proposed for the third time to the Working Committee of the Central Indonesian National Committee on 11 November 1945 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 on 3 January 1946, with Haji Mohammad Rasjidi appointed as the first Minister of Religious Affairs. Haji Mohammad Rasjidi was the State Minister of the Cabinet at the time that handled Islamic affairs. The Ministry of Religious Affairs took 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. The 1946 legislation also provided for the protection of Indonesia's Catholics and Protestants under the ministry's framework.
Some people hold view that Ministry of Religious Affairs is not a new creation. The lineage of the Ministry of Religious Affairs can be traced back to the Japanese colonial period (宗務部, Shūmubu, lit. 'Religious Affairs Office') or the Dutch colonial period (Het Kantoor voor Inlandsche Zaken, lit. 'The Office for Indigenous Affairs'). Sometimes, people traced it back to the Islamic kingdoms period.
Beginning in the 1960s, the MRA expanded its scope to include Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian Chinese Indonesians.
Under the Constitution and state legislations, in the performance of its mission, the Ministry is entitled to:
According to Presidential Decree No. 12/2023 and Ministry of Religious Affairs Decree No. 25/2024, the Ministry of Religious Affairs is organized into several units.