Tarmizi wants uniform start to Ramadhan

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said yesterday he was hopeful all the major Moslem organizations would agree on Jan. 10 as the start of the Ramadhan fasting month, Antara reported.

"Insya Allah (God willing) there will be no differences, and the start of Ramadhan will be Jan. 10," he said after overseeing the Ministry of Religious Affairs Day ceremony in Surabaya.

"There are no differences between the Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah (Moslem organizations) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs about the method of determining the start of Ramadhan this year.

"Let's hope we can keep this up," he said.

The start of the Arabic month, which follows lunar rather than solar movement, is determined arithmetically and confirmed by the sighting of the moon's crescent.

When differences occur between the two methods -- this often happens -- experts are divided about which to follow, whether the date determined by arithmetic calculations, or by the sighting of the new moon.

This often results in Moslems starting their fast on different days. Similar debate about the end of Ramadhan occurs, and whether the fasting month should last 29 or 30 days.

Imran Hamzah, a member of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board, said he was also hopeful there would be no differences between Indonesian Moslems about when the fasting month should begin.

He added his organization would still have to wait for a confirmation from the sighting of the new moon.

"Insya Allah, we can all start simultaneously. The differences we saw in the past are normal, although it would be better if we could all start at the same time," he said.

Nahdlatul Ulama is the largest Moslem organization in Indonesia with an estimated more than 30 million supporters. Muhammadiyah has some 28 million supporters. (emb)