Hilal Monitoring Locations for Determination of Early Shawwal
The Ministry of Religious Affairs will convene an isbat session to determine the beginning of Shawwal 1447 Hijriah on 19 March 2026, coinciding with the 29th of Ramadan 1447 H at the H.M. Rasjidi Auditorium, Ministry of Religious Affairs Office, Central Jakarta.
The isbat session will be attended by various stakeholders, including ambassadors from friendly nations, the Chairperson of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Bosscha Institute at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Planetarium, Islamic scholars and experts from Islamic civil society organisations, and members of the Ministry’s Calculation and Observation Team.
The Director General of Islamic Community Guidance, Abu Rokhmad, explained that the isbat session is the government mechanism for determining the beginning of Islamic months, particularly Ramadan, Shawwal, and Dhul-Hijjah. “As usual, the isbat session begins with a seminar presenting the position of the hilal by the Ministry’s Calculation and Observation Team. This is followed by a closed session to discuss the results of hilal observation reports received from various regions, before finally being announced to the public,” Abu stated in a written statement on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.
He explained that based on astronomical calculations (hisab), on the observation day or 29 Ramadan 1447 H corresponding to Thursday, 19 March 2026, the elevation of the hilal across all Indonesian regions is above the horizon, ranging between 0°54’27’’ and 3°7’52’‘. Meanwhile, the elongation angle of the hilal ranges between 4°32’40’’ and 6°06’11’’.
According to him, all calculation systems also show that the conjunction (ijtimak) preceding Shawwal 1447 H occurs on 19 March 2026 at approximately 08.23 Western Indonesia Time. Nevertheless, the determination of the beginning of Shawwal remains pending the results of hilal observation conducted in various Indonesian regions.
“The determination of the beginning of Shawwal 1447 H will await the hilal observation reports from all regions, which will then be discussed in the isbat session,” he said.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs conducts hilal monitoring at 117 locations throughout Indonesia. The observation is carried out by the Ministry’s regional offices in conjunction with district and city religious offices, Islamic courts, Islamic civil society organisations, and relevant local agencies.
The monitoring locations include sites across Aceh (six locations), North Sumatra, West Sumatra (fifteen locations), Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, Bengkulu, Lampung, Jakarta, West Java (seven locations), Banten, Central Java (thirteen locations), Yogyakarta, East Java (twenty-eight locations), West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi.