South Sulawesi Hisab Rukyat Body Sets 1 Ramadan 1447 H on 19 February

The South Sulawesi Hisab Rukyat Body (astronomical calculation and moon sighting authority) has determined that the beginning of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah for the South Sulawesi region falls on Thursday, 19 February 2026.

“So the 1st of Ramadan, God willing, will fall on 19 February, a Thursday,” said Abbas Padil, Head of the Hisab Rukyat Division of the South Sulawesi Provincial Hisab Rukyat Body, at the hilal (crescent moon) observation site in Makassar on Tuesday (17 February).

Abbas explained that the ijtima (conjunction) at the end of Syakban 1447 Hijriah coincided with 17 February 2026 at 20:01 WITA (Central Indonesia Time), with the observation position in Makassar located at 5° 08’ 59” South latitude and 119° 23’ 39” East longitude, with a regional longitude of 120° WITA.

“The sun’s declination was recorded at -11° 54’ 39”, the moon’s declination at -13° 08’ 10.27”, and other astronomical parameters also formed the basis of the calculation,” he said.

Based on this data, Abbas noted that the sun set in Makassar at 18:24 WITA on that day.

“Meanwhile, the hilal altitude was minus 1 degree 4 minutes 55 seconds. Therefore, istikmal applies, meaning the month of Syakban lasts 30 days. Because istikmal applies, the 1st of Ramadan, God willing, will fall on 19 February, a Thursday,” he explained.

Nevertheless, the results would serve as a reference for the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, which was to convene an isbat session that evening.

“We will still await the decision from the Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding the isbat session ruling,” he said.

Earlier, Jamroni, Coordinator for Observation at the BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency) Region IV Makassar, stated that the hilal could not be sighted in the sky over Makassar, South Sulawesi.

“The hilal was not visible because, based on calculations or hisab, the value is negative,” said Jamroni whilst conducting observations on Tuesday (17 February).

Jamroni explained that his team was unable to clearly observe the hilal because the moon set before the sun.

“We consider the hilal value negative, so it cannot be observed. We still carried out rukyah observation. We continued to observe, but it was unlikely to be possible because all the values were negative,” he said.