Eid Al-Adha 1444 Hijri in Indonesia will fall on June 29 2023, based on the monitoring of the new moon at 99 points, in 34 provinces throughout the country.

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian Ministry of Religion has set 1 Dhul Hijjah 1444 Hijri to fall on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, so that Eid Al-Adha 1444 Hijri will coincide on Thursday, June 29, 2023 AD.

"The isbat assembly has agreed that the 1st of Dhul Hijjah 1444 Hijri is set to fall on Tuesday, June 20, 2023," Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi said after chairing the isbat (determination) session of the first day of Dhul Hijjah here on Sunday (June 18).

"Thus, Eid Al-Adha 1444 H falls on Thursday, June 29, 2023," he continued.

According to him, the session agreed on the decision for two reasons. "First, we have heard a report from the Director of Islamic Religious Affairs that the height of the new moon in Indonesia is already above the horizon, but is still below the possibility of sighting the new moon criteria set by MABIMS," he explained.

Earlier, the Director of Islamic Religious Affairs, Adib, reported that based on data compiled by the Ministry of Religion's Hisab Rukyat Team, that the height of the hilal (the crescent that marks the beginning of the month in the Hijri calendar) in all parts of Indonesia above the horizon ranges from 0° 11.78' (zero degrees eleven point seventy-eight minutes) to 2° 21.57' (two degrees twenty-one point fifty-seven degree minutes).

Meanwhile, the elongation angle is between 4.39° (four point thirty-nine degrees) to 4.93° (four point ninety-three degrees).

"With these parameters, the current position of the new moon in Indonesia does not fit the new criteria set by MABIMS (Ministers of Religion of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Singapore)," Zainut Tauhid said.

The new criteria stipulate that astronomically the hilal (new moon) can be observed if the moon has a minimum height of three degrees and a minimum elongation of 6.4 degrees.

Second, the Indonesian Ministry of Religion has monitored the appearance of the new moon at 99 points in the country. "Of the 34 provinces where we have placed hilal observers, none of them have witnessed the hilal," Zainut Tauhid said.

The Dhul Hijjah 1444 Hijri determination session was attended by representatives of the Supreme Court, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), as well as a number of ambassadors from fellow countries.

Representatives of the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), Bosscha Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), planetarium, astronomy experts from Islamic mass organizations, related institutions and agencies, as well as Islamic boarding schools, also attended the meeting.

Reporting by Indonesia Window