Fasting start on different days

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government decided on Thursday to commence Ramadhan on Saturday, but the nation's second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, announced that the first day of the holy fasting month fell on Friday.

Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al Munawwar said the government's decision was made during a meeting with leaders of various Islamic organizations to determine the start of Ramadhan on Thursday.

Ambassadors from some Muslim countries were present at the meeting, known as itsbat.

However, the minister stressed that the government would allow Muslims in the country to start abstaining from food, drinking and sex on Friday.

The government's decision to begin Ramadhan on Saturday was based on the results of rukyah (determining the start of the fasting month by sighting of the new moon) conducted by teams from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and other Muslim groups.

The rukyah teams, deployed to beaches across the country on Thursday afternoon, said they did not see the new moon on Thursday. Therefore, the fasting month ought not to start on Friday but on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah deputy chairman Din Syamsuddin said here on Thursday that, based on hisab (the astronomical calculation to determine the first day of Ramadhan), his organization had set Nov. 16 as the start of the holy month.

"According to our hisab, the first day of Ramadhan is (Friday), and it will last until Dec. 16," Din told the press in Jakarta.

The central executive board of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation's largest Muslim organization, decided that the start of Ramadhan fell on Saturday.

It said the decision had been made after its rukyah teams found no moon on Thursday afternoon.

"A team in East Java did not see the moon and this has been reported to the NU central board. The central board told me that other teams outside Java did not see the moon either. Hence, we believe that the start of Ramadhan is Saturday," Ali Maschan Moesa, leader of the NU's East Java chapter, said.

However, Din, who is also secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), said the differing start dates for Ramadhan should not necessarily be exaggerated because such a distinction was normal in Islam.

"There are always different perspectives when using the methods of rukyah and hisab," he added.

Din said Muslims, particularly members of Muhammadiyah, were free to decide whether they would begin fasting on Friday or Saturday, based on their own religious belief, arguing that the different start dates were justified, according to Islamic teachings.

Leaders of the 40-million-strong NU also said their organization would appreciate it if its members commenced Ramadhan on Friday.

"If there are Muslims who start to fast on Friday or Saturday, we will recognize them," Maschan said.

Almost every year in recent times, NU and Muhammadiyah members have begun Ramadhan or Idul Fitri celebrations, (the post-fasting month festivities), on different days.

However, such differences have been seen as normal by Muslims, who are used to performing their religious obligations peacefully.

In a related development on Thursday, many Muslims in Jakarta and other cities became confused after hearing the government's announcement about the start of Ramadhan.

In Jakarta, hundreds of Muslims, who had gathered at mosques to prepare for tarawih services (evening non-obligatory prayers), had to cancel the prayers after hearing the official announcement from the government.

However, many other Muslims in the capital, including those gathering at Central Jakarta's Cut Mutia and Al-Falah mosques, were unmoved by the government's announcement and proceeded with their plans to perform tarawih prayers.