Beyond the Asnaf Restriction: Tamlīk and Fiscal Justice as Constraints on Zakat Funding of Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meals Program
Abstract
Background: The Free Nutritious Meals Program (Makan Bergizi Gratis/MBG), a priority Indonesian policy targeting 82.9 million beneficiaries, depends entirely on the state budget. In January 2025, the Chairperson of the Regional Representative Council proposed financing the program partly through zakat. Zakat authorities firmly rejected the proposal, citing the restriction of zakat to eight recipient categories (asnaf).
Research Gap: Existing studies affirming this rejection rest solely on the asnaf restriction and statutory text, leaving deeper questions of disbursement mechanism and fiscal designation unexamined. No study has assessed the proposal through the principles of tamlik (ownership transfer) and fiscal justice.
Novelty: This study introduces a two-axis analytical framework combining tamlik and fiscal justice to evaluate zakat financing proposals, systematically testing counterarguments grounded in maslahah, expansion of fi sabilillah, and darurah. It formulates a conditional rejection rather than an absolute prohibition.
Method: A qualitative normative-doctrinal approach with policy discourse analysis was employed. Primary legal materials (Surah al-Tawbah verse 60, Law No. 23/2011, Presidential Regulation No. 83/2024), policy discourse texts, and secondary literature were examined through usul al-fiqh framework.
Results: A rejection based solely on the asnaf restriction is methodologically fragile, collapsing if MBG is selectively targeted at the poor. More fundamentally, MBG's collective-consumption scheme fails to satisfy tamlik, and financing it through zakat constitutes a transfer of the state's obligation (isqat wajib al-dawlah) onto funds fixed by definitive text. Four counterarguments grounded in maslahah, expansion of fi sabilillah, hifz al-nafs, and darurah all fail under usuli scrutiny.
Conclusion: The study formulates a conditional rejection resting on four unfulfilled conditions of validity (entitlement, tamlik, fiscal separation, and designational conformity), shifting the debate from asnaf membership toward the validity of disbursement, and directing nutritional philanthropy toward infaq, sadaqah, and waqf.
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