Govt announces the start of fasting month

Govt announces the start of fasting month

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher
announced last night that the first day of Ramadhan, the Moslem
fasting month, begins today.

The start of Ramadhan was confirmed both by arithmetical means
(hisab) and by the sighting of the new moon (rukyat), Tarmizi
said after a joint meeting with experts and ulemas at the TVRI
studio.

The result was immediately announced to the populace through a
nationwide broadcast by the state-run television station to allow
Indonesian Moslems the chance to make the necessary preparations
for beginning the month-long period of fasting.

All mosques were filled last night for the taraweh prayers
held every night during Ramadhan.

Tarmizi said the calendar issued by the Organization of
Islamic Conference also cites Feb. 1 as the beginning of
Ramadhan.

Most other countries are also slated to begin the fasting
month today. Saudi Arabia began Ramadhan yesterday.

There appeared to be no controversy at all about the start of
Ramadhan here this year.

In the past, the controversy has focused more sharply on when
the end of Ramadhan should come and whether people should fast 29
or 30 days. Given the current rainy season, there is a likelihood
of another controversy this year, specially if thick clouds
impede the effort to sight the crescent moon towards the end of
Ramadhan.

All of the independent Moslem organizations have given their
endorsement to the government decision to declare Feb. 1 as the
start of Ramadhan.

The meeting last night was attended by Chairman of the
Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) Hasan Basri, the religion
ministry's Secretary-General Zarkowi Suyuti, Chairman of the
Indonesian Council of Islamic Propagation (DDII) Anwar Haryono,
and representatives from Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, and
Persatuan Islam (Persis). Diplomats from a number of
predominantly Moslem countries were also invited to take part in
the meeting.

Tarmizi said this year it had been the easiest yet to
determine the first day of Ramadhan.

This is because all arithmetical calculations pointed to Feb.
1 as the start of the fasting month. Last night's meeting was
simply a formality to confirm the findings.

Tarmizi said by 7 p.m. last night, his office had received
reports from at least five locations, where the attempt to sight
the crescent moon was made. These reports came from Pelabuhan
Ratu in West Java, Cakung in Jakarta, Ujung Pangkal in Surabaya,
Manado in North Sulawesi, and Buol Toli Toli in Central Sulawesi.

Ahmad Nawawi, an ulema from NU, said at the meeting that he
had no doubt about the result of the observation because a branch
of his organization had also confirmed the sighting of the
crescent.

NU, the largest and most independent Islamic organization, has
often taken a different position from the others on when to begin
and end Ramadhan.

Representatives from Malaysia and Singapore who attended the
meeting said both their countries will also begin the Ramadhan
fasting month today.

"I have just received a call informing me that tomorrow is the
beginning of the fasting month in Malaysia," Othman Mustafa, a
staff member of the Malaysian embassy said.

"Singapore's Moslems will start fasting tomorrow," Md. Yusuf
B.H. Zuhri, Director of the Religious Education Unit of the
Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura, said.

Last night's meeting and Tarmizi's subsequent appearance on
television were owed in part to a diligent driver of an ojek,
motorcycle taxi, through whose services the minister managed to
beat the heavy congestion to reach the TVRI studios.

"I was trapped in the traffic jam on Jl. Thamrin," Tarmizi
said, when he explained to puzzled looking people about his
arrival on the back of a motorcycle. "I paid Rp 10,000 for the
ride," he said, adding that the ojek driver did not realize that
he was a minister until they arrived at the TV station. (imn)