Indonesian Muslims to start fast on same day this year
Indonesian Muslims to start fast on same day this year
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Yogyakarta
Indonesian Muslims will begin fasting for Ramadhan on the same
day this year, unlike many occasions in the past.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Monday the
start of Ramadhan on Wednesday.
Similarly, the country's two biggest Muslim organizations
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah also agreed that this
year's fasting month will begin on Oct. 5.
"All monitoring teams deployed at 19 places across Indonesia
reported that none of them saw hilal (the moon) on Monday
evening, so we have decided that the start of Ramadhan falls on
Wednesday," said Muzakir, the religious ministry's head of hisab
(calendar calculation) and ru'yat (moon sighting) board.
The decision was reached in a meeting led by Minister of
Religious Affairs Maftuh Basyuni and attended by Islamic guidance
and haj management director-general Slamet Riyanto, Indonesian
Ulema Council (MUI) leader Umar Shihab and representatives from
the House of Representatives.
Representatives from NU and Muhammadiyah and other Islamic
groups as well as ambassadors from Muslim countries also attended
the meeting at Basyuni's office in Central Jakarta.
NU deputy leader Masdar Farid Mas'udi said that his 40
million-strong organization set Oct. 5 as the start of Ramadhan
after its hilal monitoring team did not see the moon on Monday
evening.
Earlier in the day, Muhammadiyah leader Din Syamsuddin also
announced that the start of Ramadhan would fall on Wednesday
based on the results of traditional calendar calculation by its
hisab team.
The team also determined that Idul Fitri will fall on Nov. 3,
Din told a press conference at Yogyakarta's Muhammadiyah branch
office, accompanied by his deputy Haedar Nasir and secretary
general Rosyad Shaleh.
Din said that should there be differences among Muslims in
setting the date for the start of Ramadhan, they should all
respond to it wisely and with mutual respect.
"However, based on hisab calculations we expect that the start
of this year's Ramadhan and the date of Idul Fitri will be the
same," he added.
Muslims in Indonesia have often begun Ramadhan and celebrated
Idul Fitri on different days due to differences in methods used
in determining the dates.
Muhammadiyah usually relies on hisab in setting the dates for
the start and end of Ramadhan, while NU emphasizes ru'yat. Both
methods are recognized in Islam.
"The results of both hisab and ru'yat are the same in
determining the start of this year's Ramadhan, so there is no
difference," said MUI's Umar Shihab.
Before closing the meeting to determine the first day of
Ramadhan, the minister congratulated Muslims for the arrival of
the fasting month.