Clerics from the country's top Islamic civil organizations say that political interests had nothing to do with the government's recent decision to shift Idul Fitri day from Monday to Sunday.
"I do not see anything suspicious behind the government's decision. What happened was the result of simple technical issues," Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, a cleric from Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic group, told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"The government, based on its observations, saw hilal on Saturday. Therefore it decided that Idul Fitri would fall on Sunday, and I think it was the right decision, because none of the Islamic organizations protested against it," he added.
Hilal, an Arabic term, refers to the small crescent moon that can be spotted after a new moon. Muslims look for hilal when determining the beginning and end of months in the Islamic calendar.
Agus Purnomo, a cleric from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the appearance of hilal could be predicted using Arabic astronomy calculations, known as hisab.
"However, hilal is ultimately determined using the ru'yat method," he said, or actually spotting hilal.
"So, it is not unusual for Idul Fitri to be predicted to fall before Sept. 20 *the pre-determined date for Idul Fitri in the Islamic calendar*, because hilal had been seen before then," Agus said.
However, this is the first time that the government has ever taken a different stance from the one pre-determined in the national calendar for the beginning of the Hijriyah year.
Previously, Idul Fitri and the beginning of the new Hijriyah year have always fallen on the same national calendar day.
Under the Soeharto regime, the government frequently intervened in religious affairs to determine the actual date of Idul Fitri, and prevent Muslims followers of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah - the second largest Islamic group - from celebrating Idul Fitri on a different day.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'aruf Amin, however, said that regardless of the government's intervention, Islamic groups and communities would always use their own observations to determine the exact date of Idul Fitri.
"Nothing has changed. What just happened was a coincidence, in which both the government and the Islamic groups agreed on their hilal observations," he said. (hdt)
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