Ministry of Religious Affairs' Hisab Rukyat Team Fails to Sight New Moon in Semarang
The Ministry of Religious Affairs’ (Kemenag) Hisab Rukyat team conducted crescent moon observation to determine the start of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah at the Planetarium of Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Walisongo Semarang on Tuesday (17/2/2026).
The result showed that the hilal (new crescent moon) was not sighted.
According to Slamet Hambali, a member of the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Hisab Rukyat team, the hilal could not be observed because the ijtimak (conjunction) had not yet occurred. “The conjunction will only take place later at 19:01 [and] 8 seconds,” he said during an interview.
Slamet added that based on the observation results, it was confirmed that the moon set before the sun. This phenomenon also occurred in Saudi Arabia.
“Therefore, there is a possibility that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia will be aligned — that 1 Ramadan will fall on Thursday, 19 February 2026,” Slamet said.
Based on the hisab calculations by the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Rukyat team, the position of the hilal across the entire territory of the Republic of Indonesia did not meet the minimum hilal visibility criteria. No location throughout the country fulfilled the MABIMS (3-6.4) hilal visibility or imkanur rukyat criteria.
The hilal ahead of the start of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah was theoretically predicted to be impossible to sight, as its position was below the horizon at the time of sunset.
The Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) also determined that the start of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah would fall on Thursday, 19 February 2026, after hilal observation results from various points across Indonesia showed that not a single observer managed to sight the crescent moon.
The government and NU’s determination of the start of fasting differs from that of Muhammadiyah. The Muhammadiyah Central Executive set 1 Ramadan 1447 Hijriah on Wednesday, 18 February 2026 — one day earlier than the government and NU — based on its own hisab (astronomical calculation) methodology.