Let Ramadan Begin, Unless You Started Fasting This Weekend

August 01, 2011

Ramadan may have officially begun today, but some Muslim communities in the country started fasting over the weekend, highlighting the age-old debate between Islamic scholars about how to determine the start of the holy month.

In an announcement on Sunday evening, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said the country’s highest Islamic authorities, including the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), had ruled that Ramadan would begin on Aug. 1.

Ahmad Jauhari, the ministry’s director of Islamic affairs, said the decision had been made based on sightings of the new moon, or hilal , at 38 points across the country. Ramadan, and the rest of the Islamic calendar, is based on the lunar cycle.

Ahmad said the new moon had been seen from at least three of those points on Sunday afternoon, which meant that the start of Ramadan could be declared for the next day.

This method, though backed by the MUI, is not the only one used to determine the start of each lunar month.

In Padang, West Sumatra, the Tarekat Naqshabandiyah Mushala Baitul Makmur community began fasting on Saturday after they calculated an earlier start to Ramadan using a different method, hisab munjid .

“We’re using the hisab munjid method, which comes from Mecca in Saudi Arabia,” Syafri Malin Mudo, the head of the 100-strong community, said on Sunday.

Over in the Banyumas district of Central Java, meanwhile, hundreds of followers of the Aboge community plan to begin fasting on Tuesday, a day later than the majority of Muslims.

The community traditionally determines the start of Ramadan according to the Javanese calendar, which also has a lunar basis.

Ichwan Sam, the MUI secretary general, said methods for determining the start of Ramadan other than the hilal were questionable.

“We doubt the groups who started fasting earlier or later than the official date are correct because we don’t think they have the comprehensive tools that are needed to observe the moon, or certified observers and astronomers like we do,” he said.

“In the modern era, people are obliged to use the best tools and methods to determine the beginning of Ramadan.”

“It would be much better for them to follow the majority of the people on when to start fasting,” he added.


(x the JG)

( It never ceases to amaze me that there will always be people who will find something to bicker about, this time when the month of Ramadan is supposed to start! Know they not then that it matters not when the month starts, but what this month is all about? God-Allah knows the desire from within you if you choose to fast, and to Him it matters not if it be on a Sunday-Monday or Tuesday for as long as you fast for the correct purposes. siK.)