KUA to Become Venue for Non-Muslim Marriages and Worship: Here's the Distribution

Until now, Religious Affairs Offices (KUA) have only served as marriage registration centers for Muslims. However, Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas plans to change that.

"KUAs can be used as marriage registration centers for all religions," Yaqut said, as reported by *Katadata* on Sunday (25/2/2024).

Yaqut stated that non-Muslim citizens currently register their marriages at civil registries. He believes this should fall under the Ministry of Religion's purview.

By expanding the function of KUAs to include marriage registration for all religions, Yaqut hopes to better integrate marriage and divorce data.

Yaqut also mentioned that the halls in KUAs can be utilized as temporary places of worship for non-Muslims who face difficulties establishing their own places of worship due to economic, social, and other factors.

"Let's help our non-Muslim brothers and sisters to perform their worship as best as possible. The duty of Muslims as the majority is to protect our minority brothers and sisters, not the other way around," Yaqut said.

"This year, we will also launch the KUA as a cross-functional and interfaith religious service center," he added.

According to Ministry of Religion data, as of 2022, there were 5,913 KUAs spread across Indonesia's 34 provinces. This is an increase from 5,901 units the previous year.

East Java had the highest number of KUAs nationally in 2022, with 665 units.

West Java was second with 626 units, followed by Central Java with 582 units, and North Sumatra with 368 units.

On the other hand, Papua had the fewest KUAs nationally, with only 29 units.

Complete list of the number of KUAs in Indonesia's 34 provinces in 2022:

1. East Java: 665 units
2. West Java: 626 units
3. Central Java: 582 units
4. North Sumatra: 368 units
5. South Sulawesi: 285 units
6. Aceh: 279 units
7. South Sumatra: 232 units
8. Lampung: 225 units
9. Southeast Sulawesi: 200 units
10. West Sumatra: 173 units
11. Riau: 164 units
12. West Kalimantan: 164 units
13. Central Sulawesi: 163 units
14. Banten: 155 units
15. South Kalimantan: 151 units
16. Jambi: 132 units
17. Bengkulu: 126 units
18. Central Kalimantan: 122 units
19. West Nusa Tenggara: 116 units
20. East Nusa Tenggara: 108 units
21. North Maluku: 107 units
22. Maluku: 80 units
23. Yogyakarta Special Region: 78 units
24. North Sulawesi: 78 units
25. Gorontalo: 69 units
26. Riau Islands: 66 units
27. West Sulawesi: 63 units
28. West Papua: 49 units
29. Bangka Belitung: 47 units
30. Jakarta Special Capital Region: 44 units
31. North Kalimantan: 36 units
32. Bali: 35 units
33. Papua: 29 units