Ramadhan may start differently

Ramadhan may start differently

SURABAYA: Muslims may not begin the holy fasting month of
Ramadhan on the same day this month as Indonesia's largest
Islamic organizations will likely set different dates.

Leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation's biggest
Muslim group, said in East Java on Thursday that Ramadhan will
likely start on Nov. 17, while Muhammadiyah, the second largest
Muslim group, will start the holy month one day earlier,
referring to the general calender.

The difference takes place due to the two groups' distinctive
traditional ways of determining the date of Ramadhan. NU uses
rukyah (determination by sighting of the moon), while
Muhammadiyah uses hisab (determination by calender calculation).

The NU's East Java chapter recently issued a special calender,
setting the start of Ramadhan on Nov. 17. It said the moon would
not appear on Nov. 15, so the Islamic month of Sya'ban would end
on Nov. 16, a day after which, it added, Ramadhan must begin.

However, Sholeh Hayat, a NU leader who is also a member of the
group's rukyah team in East Java, said it would conduct rukyah on
the evening of Nov. 15 at beaches across the country to determine
whether the moon appeared or not on that day.

"If the moon can been seen with naked eyes on Nov. 15, we will
begin fasting a day after that day. If not, we will complete
Sya'ban into 30 days and we will start Ramadhan on Nov. 17," he
said.

Meanwhile, the consultative council of Muhammadiyah in East
Java said Ramadhan begins on Nov. 16. It argued that based on
hisab conducted by its team, the moon will have to appear at
01:41 p.m. on that day.

Almost every year in recent times, NU and Muhammadiyah members
began Ramadhan or celebrated Idul Fitri, the post-fasting month
festivities, on different days. However, such a difference was
dubbed as normal by Muslims. --JP