Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian Ministry of Religion Affairs has set the start of fasting or the 1st Ramadan 1443 Hijri/2022 AD to fall on Sunday (Apr. 3).

"By consensus, the 1st Ramadan 1443 Hijri falls on Sunday, April 3, 2022," Minister of Religion Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said during a press conference on a meeting to decide a new moon on the Islamic calendar, Friday (Apr. 1).

The Minister of Religion Affairs reported that the moon monitoring at 101 points in 34 provinces showed that it was not visible according to the prerequisites set by MABIMS (Ministers of Religion of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore). The new moon should be at the height of 3 degrees with an elongation of 6.4 degrees.

"The height of the moon in all regions of Indonesia is at a position of 1 degree 6.78 minutes to 2 degrees 10.02 minutes. This is the position of the new moon based on calculation," he said.

This meeting assembly was attended by a number of representatives of religious organizations, astronomers, and other guests.

The meeting was held on Friday from 05.00 p.m. local time until it was closed with the determination of the beginning of the 1st Ramadan.

The meeting assembly considers the initial information based on astronomical calculations and observations through a monitoring mechanism.

The beginning of Ramadan determined by the government is different from that set by Muhammadiyah (the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia after Nahdlatul Ulama).

Muhammadiyah has determined that the 1st Ramadan 1443 Hijri fall on Saturday (Apr. 2), so the special evening prayers during the holy month or so-called taraweeh were held on Friday night.

Reporting by Indonesia Window