Religious Affairs Ministry to Hold Isbat Meeting on Saturday to Decide 1 Shawwal 1438H
The Government through the Ministry of Religious Affairs will hold an Isbat (confirmation) deliberation to decide Eid al-Fitr or 1 Shawwal 1438H, at the H.M. Rasjidi Auditorium of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Jalan MH. Thamrin No. 6, Jakarta, this coming Saturday (24/6).
“Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin is scheduled to lead the deliberation, together with the Chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) KH Ma’ruf Amin and Chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives (DPR) Ali Taher,” Director of Islamic Affairs and Sharia Fostering Muhammad Thambrin said in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/6).
According to Thambrin, the deliberation will be attended by Ambassadors of friendly countries, the Supreme Court, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (LAPAN), the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), the Bosscha Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Planetarium, Falak (astronomy) experts from various Islamic Organizations, Echelon I and II Officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs; and Hisab (astronomical calculations) and Rukyat (visual observations of the new moon) Teams of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. “The isbat deliberation constitutes a form of togetherness between the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Islamic Organizations as well as related institutions in determining the beginning of the qamariyah months, especially Ramadan, Shawwal, and Dzulhijjah,” Thambrin explained.
According to Thambrin, the deliberation will commence at 5 pm Western Indonesian Time, beginning with the exposure of Hisab and Rukyat Team of the Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding the position of the new moon ahead of the beginning of 1 Shawwal 1438H.
The isbat deliberation, Thambrin further expalined, is slated to take place after the Dawn prayers after the report of the results of rukyatul hilal (observing the new moon) from the monitoring location.
Thambrin added that the Ministry of Religious Affairs will deploy a number of hilal (moon) monitors of 1438H Shawwal in all provinces in Indonesia. They come from the officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs at the regional offices, and the regencies/cities in collaboration with the Religious Courts, Islamic organizations, and related local institutions.
So far, according to Thambrin, the hisab data shows that the ijtimak (geometrical conjunction of moon and earth) ahead of Syawal 1438H is likely to fall on Saturday, 24 June 2017 at around 9:32pm, coinciding with the 29th of Ramadan 1438H. “At the time of rukyat, the height of hilal in all parts of Indonesia is above the horizon, ranging from 2° to 4°. (PR of the Ministry of State Secretariat/ES) (MUR/YM/Naster).
