Crescent Moon Not Visible in Semarang: Ministry of Religious Affairs Hisab Rukyat Team Explains the Cause
The crescent moon (hilal) was not visible in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday (17 February 2026) when the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ (Kemenag) Hisab Rukyat team carried out hilal observation to determine the start of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah at the Planetarium of Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Walisongo Semarang.
Slamet Hambali, a member of the Kemenag Hisab Rukyat team, explained the reason the hilal could not be sighted. “This afternoon we conducted rukyatul hilal because today is the 29th of Sha’ban, but the hilal would not be visible. Firstly, the ijtimak [conjunction] has not yet occurred. The conjunction will only take place later at 19:01 and 8 seconds,” he said.
Slamet added that based on the observation results, it could be confirmed that the moon set before the sun. He noted that the same situation also applied in Saudi Arabia.
According to hisab (astronomical calculation) data, the hilal’s altitude across the entire territory of Indonesia ranged from -2° 24’ 43” (-2.41°) to -0° 55’ 41” (-0.93°). Meanwhile, the moon-sun elongation was recorded between 0° 56’ 23” (0.94°) and 1° 53’ 36” (1.89°). The observation was conducted using four telescopes.
These figures did not meet the hilal visibility criteria, or imkan rukyat, established by MABIMS (the Ministers of Religious Affairs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore), which requires a minimum altitude of 3 degrees and a minimum elongation of 6.4 degrees.
“Therefore, there is a possibility that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia will be aligned — that 1 Ramadan will fall on Thursday, 19 February 2026,” Slamet stated.
The government of the Republic of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Religious Affairs, officially determined that the start of fasting, or 1 Ramadan 1447 Hijriah, falls on Thursday, 19 February 2026. The determination was based on the Sidang Isbat (official session to determine the Islamic calendar date) chaired directly by Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar in Jakarta on Tuesday (17 February 2026).
The hisab results were confirmed by reports from observers deployed by Kemenag at 96 observation points spread across all provinces in Indonesia. “There are no reports of the hilal being sighted from any of the observation points. Even in other Islamic countries, none have met the imkan rukyat criteria,” the Minister said.
Slamet also addressed Muhammadiyah’s determination that 1 Ramadan 1447 Hijriah falls on Wednesday (18 February 2026). According to Slamet, this is because Muhammadiyah uses the Unified Global Hijri Calendar (Kalender Hijriah Global Tunggal). Under this method, anywhere in the world, there is one location where the moon’s altitude has already reached 5 degrees and the elongation has reached 8 degrees — and this occurs at the western longitude, approaching longitude 180.
Despite the difference in determining 1 Ramadan 1447 Hijriah, Slamet urged Muslims in Indonesia to uphold tolerance. “We must respect one another,” he said.
The Minister of Religious Affairs also appealed that the difference should not cause division, and that such differences should be regarded as a treasure and a beautiful mosaic of the Indonesian nation. The month of Sha’ban was therefore completed to 30 days under the istikmal method, with Ramadan beginning the following day.