Eid al-Fitr Falls on Sunday, Gov’t Declares

By Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation     Date 22 Mei 2020
Category: News
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Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi attends a press conference after a limited Isbat (confirmation) meeting, Friday (22/5). (Photo by: Ministry of Religious Affairs).

The Government has announced that this year’s Eid al-Fitr 1 Shawwal 1441 Hijri will fall on Sunday (24/5).

“We have determined through the isbat meeting that 1 Shawwal 1441 will fall on Sunday (24/5),” Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi said in his press statement, Friday (22/5).

According to the Minister, the decision was made based on two reasons.

“First, we have heard the explanation of the Falakiyah Team (a member of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Islamic organization) that the moon’s position across Indonesia is under the horizon, which ranges from minus 5.29 to minus 3.96 degrees so that the new moon is not possible to see,” the Minister said.

Fachrul also said the rukyat (lunar movement observation) was carried out by Ministry of Religious Affairs at 80 locations across the country.

“We have received reports from a number of sworn rukyat observers from Aceh province to Papua province,” Fachrul said.

Based on the hisab (astronomical calculation) and the rukyat methods, Fachrul continued, the Goverment decided that Eid al-Fitr will fall on Sunday (24/5).

For the record, the isbat meeting was attended by Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi, Deputy Minister Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi, Head of House Commission VIII Yandri Susanto, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leader Abdullah Jaidi, and Director General of Muslim Community Guidance at Religious Affairs Ministry Kamaruddin Amin.

Other Islamic organization leaders, astronomy experts, religious courts, Echelon I and II officials of Religious Affairs Ministry also attended the meeting through a video conference.

Previously, the Ministry’s astronomy expert Cecep Nurwendaya confirmed that the moon sighted in all regions of Indonesia on Friday (22/5) evening has yet to meet the criteria of a hilal (crescent moon).

“All regions across the country have negative hilal altitudes between minus 5.29 to minus 3.96 degrees. The hilal goes down first before the sun,” Cecep said. (Public Relations of Religious Affairs Ministry / EN)

 

 

Translated by: Syarifah Aisyah
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas

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