Indonesia Celebrates Eid al-Fitr This Year on Wednesday, April 10

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs announced the day of Eid al-Fitr, or the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal marking the end of Ramadan, this year falls on Wednesday, April 10. The decision was made in the Isbat meeting attended by Islamic organizations and representatives of neighboring countries, as stated by the Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

"The Isbat meeting set the first day of Shawwal 1445 Hijri falls on Wednesday, April 10, 2024," said Yaqut Cholil Qoumas at the HM. Rasjidi Auditorium of the Ministry Office in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 9.

Based on the hisab data explained by Cecep Nurwendaya, member of the Ministry's Hisab-Rukyat Team, the ijtimak occurred on Tuesday, the 29th of Ramadan 1445 H or April 9, 2024, at around 01:20 Western Indonesia Time (WIB). At sunset, the height of the crescent moon throughout Indonesia is above the horizon between 4° 52.71' (four degrees fifty-two point seventy-one minutes) to 7° 37.84' (seven degrees thirty-seven point eighty-four minutes) and the elongation angle 8° 23.68' (eight degrees twenty-three point sixty-eight minutes) to 10° 12.94' (ten degrees twelve point ninety-four minutes).

Based on the criteria of MABIMS (Ministry of Religious Affairs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), the position of the crescent met the criteria for the visibility of the new moon, which is the height of the new moon is 3 degrees and the angle of elongation is 6.4 degrees.

The Isbat meeting was held behind closed doors; led by Minister Yaqut and attended by the House's Commision VIII, MUI leaders, ambassadors of friendly countries, Islamic organization representatives, and the Hisab-Rukyat Team of the Religious Affairs Ministry. The meeting started with the seminar on the crescent position explanation by the Ministry's Hisab-Rukyat Team. 

Yaqut explained that the meeting was a medium for deliberation and a meeting point, as well as an attempt for Muslims to hold dialogues on determining the day of Eid al-Fitr.

"The ministry has been monitoring the position of the crescent, or rukyatul hilal, in various Indonesian provinces. For this year's Isbat, the ministry has dispatched its team to 127 locations across the country. "The Ministry of Religious Affairs always uses the two methods at the beginning of the Islamic month, which complement each other and cannot be negated, namely informative hisab and confirmatory rukyat," Yaqut said.

"Based on the report of the team in the [127] spots, Hilal was sighted. The report was then brought to the assembly. So, based on the hisab method and the hilal sighting report, we concluded that the first day of Shawwal 1445 Hijri falls on Wednesday, April 10, 2024," Yaqut explained.

He hoped that all Muslims in Indonesia could celebrate Eid with deliberation and consensus.

The Muhammadiyah Central Management had previously determined that the first day of Shawwal 1445 Hijri would fall on April 10, 2024, as stated in PP Muhammadiyah's Decree No. 1/MLM/I.0/E/2024 concerning the determination of the results of the Hisab of Ramadan, Shawwal and Zulhijah 1445 H. Therefore, there is no difference in the day of the Eid al-Fitr celebration.

Intan Setiawanty

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