Founded in 1946, the Department of Religion has been central to Indonesian Islam for the past 60 years. It administers the religious courts (or did so until 2004); supervises and provides curricula for religious education; administers registration of marriage and divorce; drafts and introduces important regulations such as the Compilation of Islamic Law (Kompilasi Hukum Islam; KHI); registers the wealth tax (zakat) and gifts (wakaf); is the location of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (Majelis Ulama Indonesia; MUI) (from 1975), administers the pilgrimage (hajj); and has an active research division. It is all-pervasive in Muslim affairs because, in practice, its procedures are a source of syariah—a ‘bureaucratic syariah’—in the modern state.

One of the most important functions of the department is to organize the annual hajj. I have chosen this as an example of how the department functions because it demonstrates very clearly the importance of the bureaucratic element, that is, of regulated and systematized control of religious duty. This contrasts strongly with the divine imperative laying out the duty of the individual. My focus, therefore, is on what happens to the pilgrim.

There are three preliminary points to bear in mind. First, the hajj is compulsory for Muslims (means and health permitting), so it is vital that it be performed correctly and completely. The emphasis on orthopraxy is absolutely fundamental and the Department of Religion takes its duty of instruction very seriously. Second, the pilgrim is a citizen of Indonesia who is going abroad for a limited and specific purpose. Nevertheless, the formalities of passport, entry, stay and consular protection must be adhered to. Belief and piety on their own are no longer sufficient in the modern world. Finally, the hajj involves large amounts of money. The average pilgrim pays the Department of Religion about Rp 2.6 million (US$2,600) to make the hajj arrangements—probably more than this by now.