The majority of Muslims in Indonesia will likely celebrate Idul Fitri on the same day, as the two of the country'€™s largest Islamic mass organizations '€” Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah '€” have agreed that the end of Ramadhan will fall on Wednesday.

Ghazalie Masroeri, a member of the NU executive board, said on Monday that the organization estimated that hilal (the new moon) would fall on Thursday, the day when Muhammadiyah would celebrate Idul Fitri. '€œFor the fixed day, we will wait for the result of the rukyat [lunar sightings] which will be held on Wednesday,'€ he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Both NU and Muhammadiyah usually start and end the fasting month on different days due to different methods used in calculating the Islamic calendar.

NU uses rukyat in determining the start and end of Ramadhan, while Muhammadiyah uses hisab (mathematical and astronomical calculations), which makes the organization able to set Idul Fitri earlier.

Muhammadiyah started the fasting month on July 9, while NU started the day after. The former has decided to end the fasting month of Ramadhan on Wednesday and celebrate Idul Fitri a day later, while the latter has not yet decided.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said last month that the Majelis Tarjih (law-making council) of Muhammadiyah had decided that Idul Fitri would fall on Aug. 8 because the conjunction of the sun, earth and moon in a straight line would occur on Aug. 7.

Meanwhile, Ghazalie said NU would conduct a rukyat on Wednesday in 90 strategic points across the country by involving 110 observers with a national standard, along with clerics, hisab experts, astronomers, jurisprudence experts and NU members across the regions. '€œShould we see the hilal, Idul Fitri will fall on Thursday.'€

Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) spokesperson Amidhan also confirmed that Idul Fitri this year would fall on Thursday.

He said the formal announcement would be on Wednesday during a meeting between the Muslim mass organizations, called Sidang Isbat.

'€œBased on current observations, the height of hilal for sure will be above three degrees on Wednesday. This means that Idul Fitri will be on Thursday because to determine Syawal, the height of hilal is at least two degrees,'€ he said.

Amidhan added that the MUI would involve hilal experts across Indonesia in observing hilal on Wednesday. He said that if hilal was not seen in some provinces due to cloud or rain but seen in other provinces, Idul Fitri would still fall on Thursday.

Determining the beginning and end of Ramadhan has become something unique in Indonesia.

Last year, both NU and Muhammadiyah started the fasting month on different days but ended it on the same day, which saw them both celebrate Idul Fitri on Aug. 19. (koi)

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