In Line with Indonesian Government and NU, Iran to Celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Saturday
Iran has announced that the final day of the holy month of Ramadan will fall on Friday (20/3/2026). This majority Shia Muslim country will celebrate Eid al-Fitr on the same day as the Indonesian government and PBNU, namely Saturday (21/3/2026).
Iranian state television reported that the office of Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, stated that after moon observation, Friday will be the 30th day of the holy month of Ramadan, followed by Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the fasting period.
This announcement was also echoed in Iraq, which also has a Shia majority, by the country’s prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, as quoted from the Arab News website, Friday (20/3/2026). Khamenei was appointed as Iran’s supreme leader this month to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike at the beginning of the war between the United States (US) and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which Iran calls the “Ramadan War.”
The timing of Eid al-Fitr is determined based on the sighting of the crescent moon, in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar. This year, the last day of Ramadan coincides with Nowruz, the new year celebrated in Iran on the spring equinox.
Observing Ramadan, during which hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset, is one of the five pillars of Islam, requiring Muslims to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations during daylight hours.
Devout Muslims are also encouraged to give alms to the poor. In Indonesia, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) stated that the position of the new moon as an indicator of the start of 1 Syawal 1447 Hijriyah did not meet the hilal visibility criteria (imkanur rukyat) in Indonesian territory.
Member of the Kemenag’s Hisab Rukyat Team, Cecep Nurwendaya, explained that based on calculation data, the MABIMS criteria (minimum hilal altitude of three degrees and elongation of 6.4 degrees) were not met simultaneously. “Thus, 1 Syawal 1447 Hijriyah falls on Saturday Pahing, 21 March 2026,” said Cecep at the Isbat Session Seminar held at the Kemenag office on Jalan MH Thamrin, Thursday afternoon (19/3/2026).