Indonesian Government Sets 1 Ramadan 1443 H on Sunday, April 3

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian government has set 1 Ramadan 1443 Hijri, which marks the beginning of fasting, to fall on Sunday, April 3, 2022. The determination of 1 Ramadan 1443 Hijri is the result of the Isbat Session (determination) conducted by the Ministry of Religion together with a number of Islamic organizations.

“After going through consideration at the Isbat Session, we hereby determine that 1 Ramadan 1443 Hijri will fall on April 3, 2022 or coincide with Sunday,” said Minister of Religion Yaqut after chairing the ISBAT session in Jakarta on Friday.

“In general, the Isbat Session went smoothly, starting with a presentation from Professor Thomas Jamaludin as a member of the Hijri Calendar Unification Team of the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, and he conveyed that the height of the hilal throughout Indonesia was in a position above the horizon between 1 degree 6.78 minutes to 2 degrees. 10.02 minutes,” he added.

According to Minister of Religion Yaqut, the position is still below the new criteria for MABIMS (Ministers of Religion of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore). In these criteria, it is agreed that at the beginning of the month, the position of the new moon at sunset is 3 degrees and the elongation is 6.4 degrees.

Minister of Religion Yaqut added that the determination of 1 Ramadan 1443 H was carried out based on reckoning calculations and monitoring of the new moon. The hilal monitoring was carried out at 101 observation posts throughout Indonesia, from Aceh to Papua.

“In this hilal observation, there is not a single hilal monitoring post from the east to the west end of Indonesia which states that the hilal has been seen. We don’t get people who have witnessed that the new moon has been seen,” he said.

With this stipulation, starting Saturday night, Muslims in Indonesia will only be able to perform Tarawih prayers. “So, Saturday night we can only pray Tarawih and in the morning we eat sahur,” said Minister of Religion Yaqut.

This year’s Isbat Session was conducted with a combination of online and offline, which was held at the Ministry of Religion’s Office on Jalan MH Thamrin, Jakarta. The ISBAT session was attended by representatives from Commission VIII of the DPR, the Supreme Court, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Then, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan), Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), Bosscha Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Planetarium, astronomy experts from Islamic organizations, echelon I and II officials of the Ministry of Religion, and the Ministry of Religion’s reckoning and rukyat team. A number of Islamic organizations, including NU, Muhammadiyah, Persis, and Al Washliyah, were also present. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)