University Student Challenges 1 Syawal Determination Rule in Constitutional Court

A student from the Faculty of Law at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Ahmad Fathu Shabri, has submitted a petition for judicial review to the Constitutional Court (MK) against the regulation concerning the determination of 1 Syawal, which forms the basis for establishing the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The petitioner is challenging Article 52A of Law Number 3 of 2006 on Religious Courts. According to Ahmad, this provision creates legal uncertainty because the government can only determine 1 Syawal through an isbat session held one day before Eid al-Fitr. He also considers that the article indirectly grants legal legitimacy solely to the rukyat method in determining the start of the Hijri month. Consequently, the hisab method, which is followed by some Muslims, appears not to receive equal recognition before the state. “This law also structurally labels our method (hisab) as invalid and unofficial in the eyes of the state,” Ahmad stated during the Preliminary Examination Session for Case Number 224/PUU-XXIV/2026, held online on Thursday, 25 June 2026. The contested Article 52A of the Religious Courts Law states that religious courts provide isbat for rukyat hilal testimony in determining the beginning of the Hijri month. The petitioner argues that this provision contradicts Article 29 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 28E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, which guarantees freedom of religion and the practice of one’s beliefs. In his petition, Ahmad claims to have suffered direct constitutional harm. As a follower of the hisab method, which often determines 1 Syawal earlier than the government, he says he experiences obstacles in performing worship and social life. “This happens because the government only provides a single institutional legitimacy to the rukyat method,” Ahmad said. He also admitted difficulty in performing the Eid al-Fitr prayer earlier due to challenges in obtaining a prayer location or field, as local officials and the community generally wait for the government’s isbat session results before providing such facilities. Furthermore, Ahmad argued that the phrase “kesaksian” (testimony) in Article 52A has closed off space for judicial recognition of determining the start of the month through a scientific-mathematical or astronomical approach, known as hisab hakiki. He claimed this condition violates Article 28I paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution because it makes the isbat session results the sole basis for determining the national holiday. In his petitum, Ahmad requested that the Constitutional Court declare Article 52A of the Religious Courts Law contrary to the 1945 Constitution and not legally binding. As an alternative, he requested that the article be declared conditionally unconstitutional insofar as it is interpreted to only recognise the rukyat method as the sole basis for determining the beginning of the Hijri month without granting equal recognition to the hisab hakiki method.