“Correct, Mr. President will spend the last night of Ramadan in North Sumatra and perform the Eid al-Fitr prayer in Aceh tomorrow morning, God willing,” he told the press in Jakarta on Friday.
In detail, the head of state is scheduled to depart for North Sumatra via Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta on Friday afternoon. He will be accompanied by Secretary Wijaya and several officials during his Eid trip.
Earlier, on Thursday night (March 19), the Indonesian government announced that the first day of Shawwal 1447 Hijri will fall on Saturday, March 21, officially marking Eid al-Fitr 2026, following nationwide observations of the hilal, or crescent moon.
“After moon sighting and observations, we can confirm that the hilal was not spotted. We thereby declare that Day 1 of Shawwal 1447 Hijri will fall on Saturday, March 21, 2026,” Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar said at a press conference in Jakarta.
He explained that the decision followed observations conducted by ministry teams at 117 locations nationwide, which found that the crescent moon’s position had not met the criteria agreed upon by the governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (MABIMS).
The MABIMS visibility criteria require a minimum crescent height of 3° and an elongation of at least 6.4°. However, observations showed that the hilal was still below the horizon, falling short of the threshold.
Based on these findings, the government applied the istikmal method, rounding Ramadan to 30 days, thereby setting March 21 as the start of the Shawwal month and the celebrations of Eid al-Fitr.
Meanwhile, the Islamic organization Muhammadiyah observed the holy day on March 20.
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Translator: Genta Tenri, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2026
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