Jakarta, NU Online
The government is set to decide on which date Idul Fitri will be celebrated during tonight’s Isbat session, Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister said.<>

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said that he invited all Islamic organizations — even those that have different criteria for setting the date in question — to the Isbat meeting, the government’s official calendaring mechanism. He aired hope that there would be no disagreement on which day the celebration falls on.

“Hopefully next year we can join the criteria into one,” Suryadharma said as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. “As long as some standards remain different, there is a potential to have a different first of Syawal [a month after Ramadan in the Islamic calendar].”

Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organizations, however, has already decided that Idul Fitri this year will fall on August 8, and has bowed out of the meeting.

The first meeting began at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and explained how the government calculates the date to the 35 Islamic organization in attendance. The session that will decide the exact date of Idul Fitri will begin between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

In 2011, Muhammadiyah celebrated Idul Fitri on Aug. 30, even though the government announced that Idul Fitri would fall on Aug. 31.

The split in opinion caused widespread confusion, as many people prepared to celebrate on Aug. 30 instead of Aug. 31.

In 2012, there was no difference between major Islamic organizations and the government. It was celebrated on Aug. 19.

Last year, however, the government and Islamic organizations agreed that Idul Fitri was to be celebrated on Aug. 19.

All organizations agree that Syawal signals Idul Fitri, and that the holiday begins when a crescent moon is first spotted over the horizon.

Muhammadiyah uses an astronomical computation, known as hisab, to determine the start of Idul Fitri. Other organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation’s largest Muslim group, require the computation to be validated by visual observation, or rukyat.

Even Muslim organizations using the hisab method can arrive at two different interpretations. This happens because some groups base their determination on the wujudul hilal, the location of the moon after sunset, while others consider instead the imkan al-rukyat, or the sighting of the moon when it is measured at least 2 degrees above the horizon.

The government decides Idul Fitri based on rukyat hilal, relying on the visibility of the crescent moon.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq