Ministry Of Religion: Invisible Hilal 1 Of Ramadan

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Member of the Hijri Calendar Unification Team of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag), Thomas Djamaluddin, revealed the observation of the position of the new moon at the isbat session for determining 1 Ramadan 1443 Hijriah.

Thomas said the government used the new criteria agreed by MABIMS (Ministers of Religion of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) in 2017.

Where, the beginning of the month of Ramadan enters if the position of the hilal at sunset is 3 degrees and the elongation is 6.4 degrees. The hilal is a small crescent moon that is visible just after sunset.

Currently, said Thomas, the position of the new moon in Indonesia in general does not meet the criteria for the Imkanur Rukyat MABIMS. This was revealed in the seminar on the new moon position of the isbat trial.

"Using the new Imkanur Rukyat MABIMS criteria, this shows that Indonesia on the right is far from the new MABIMS criteria. This means that in Indonesia the hilal is too low and it is impossible to beat the light of syafaq, so it is impossible to see the hilal," explained Thomas , Friday, April 1st.

In fact, said Thomas, the position of the hilal height in general is currently less than 2 degrees, only Sumatra and parts of Java are 2 degrees.

"So, even if we use the old criteria, this is only around Java and Sumatra," he said.

Then what if later someone witnessed the new moon or claimed to have seen the new moon? Thomas explained, based on this criterion, astronomically it was assumed that what was seen was not the new moon.

"So of course, based on astronomical analysis, this Hilal's testimony should be rejected. Of course we will decide later at the Isbat trial, but this is the astronomical data that should be taken into consideration by all of us," said Thomas.

It is known that the isbat trial for the determination of 1 Ramadan 1443 H was held in a hybrid manner, namely online and offline by implementing health protocols. The isbat trial is divided into three stages, namely the presentation of the position of the new moon based on the reckoning results, the implementation of the isbat trial for the determination of the beginning of Ramadan, and the press teleconference of the results of the isbat trial.

This isbat session involved the Hijri Calendar Unification Team of the Ministry of Religion, ambassadors of friendly countries, and representatives of Islamic organizations. This session also involved representatives of the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and other invitees.