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.