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.

[1][2] 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.

Haji Mohammad Rasjidi was the State Minister of the Cabinet at the time that handled Islamic affairs.

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.

[2] Beginning in the 1960s, the MRA expanded its scope to include Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian Chinese Indonesians.