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Jakarta, Indonesia – The Indonesian government has officially set the date for Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1447 Hijriah, commonly known as Eid al-Fitr, to fall on Saturday, March 21, 2026. The decision was made following a sidang isbat, or determination meeting, convened by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) on Thursday evening.
Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar announced the outcome of the meeting, stating that the determination was based primarily on the monitoring of the new moon (hilal). “It has been agreed that 1 Syawal 1447 Hijriah will fall on Saturday, March 21, 2026,” Umar said during a press conference following the sidang isbat.
The sidang isbat was held at the HM Rasjidi Auditorium at the Ministry of Religious Affairs in central Jakarta. The process of determining the start of Syawal, the tenth month in the Islamic calendar, relies on a combination of astronomical calculations (hisab) and the actual sighting of the new moon (rukyatul hilal) from locations across the Indonesian archipelago.
Prior to the formal meeting, a seminar on the position of the hilal was held, open to the public, beginning at 4:30 PM local time. This session presented the astronomical data regarding the expected position of the new moon. The main sidang isbat commenced behind closed doors at 6:45 PM, after the Maghrib prayer. Participants reviewed reports from the rukyatul hilal observations conducted in various regions and compared them with the hisab data.
Kemenag reported that at least 117 locations throughout Indonesia were used for hilal monitoring. These locations included regional offices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, local religious affairs offices, religious courts, Islamic organizations, and other related institutions. Monitoring points spanned the country, from Aceh and North Sumatra to West Sumatra, Riau, the Riau Islands, and as far as Papua and West Papua, encompassing observatories, coastlines, mosques, high-rise buildings, and hilly areas.
Recent reports indicated that the position of the hilal in Indonesia had not yet met the criteria established by the MABIMS (Methodology of Calculating the Hijri Calendar) standard, a collaborative effort among several Southeast Asian nations to standardize the Islamic calendar. Despite this, the sidang isbat proceeded with the available data and observations, ultimately leading to the determination of March 21st as the date for Eid al-Fitr.