Start of Idul Fitri in Indonesia – for some Muslims

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some Muslims will wake up Monday to start the Idul Fitri festivities but others will have to wait another day for the celebration.

Muhammadiyah followers have set Monday as their Idul Fitri day, while NU together with the government have decided the holiday falls on Tuesday.

Islamic and government leaders have called for Muslims not to make an issue out of the time difference, which has occurred sporadically for many years, so as not to provoke unnecessary conflict.

While Muhammadiyah made public its Idul Fitri date earlier last week, NU and the government only announced theirs on Sunday.

Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni said religious and government officials decided the date after there were no sightings of the new moon from monitoring stations throughout the country Sunday.

Muhammadiyah’s Oct. 23 Idul Fitri date is based on astronomical calculations on the changing of the moon, resulting in only 29 days of fasting.

“We respect the conclusion of the Religious Affairs Ministry. However, we are sticking to our calculation that Idul Fitri will fall Monday,” said Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin in a Sunday meeting at the ministry.

In recent years, Muhammadiyah and NU have celebrated Idul Fitri on the same days.

Meanwhile, from the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI expressed “cordial greetings” to the world’s Muslims on the occasion of Idul Fitri, the feast day ending the holy month of Ramadhan.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, who earlier this year offended many Muslims with comments that appeared to link their religion to violence, offered his greetings during his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican.

In Jakarta, Muhammadiyah Muslims geared up for Idul Fitri on Monday. Several mosques, including Al-Azhar in South Jakarta, have already held takbiran prayers on Sunday night, marking the end of the fasting month.

In Yogyakarta, the birthplace of Muhammadiyah, most people will celebrate Idul Fitri on Monday.

The day will see former Muhammadiyah chief and speaker of the People’s Assembly Amien Rais lead Idul Fitri prayers in the Trirenggo soccer field in the May 27 quake-ravaged city of Bantul.

Syafii Ma’arif, a respected Muslim intellectual and also a former head of the group, is set to lead prayers in Yogyakarta’s main Northern Square.

Amelia Dewi Respati, a Jakartan celebrating Idul Fitri in her family’s home town of Yogyakarta, said she would attend the Idul Fitri prayers Monday. “Most of the people here, will perform the prayers on Monday, so my family just goes along with them,” she said.

But not all NU members will celebrate Idul Fitri on Tuesday as their leaders in Jakarta have decided. In East Java, an NU stronghold, many will also celebrate it Monday because they have used a different method to calculate the end of the fasting month.

In Probolinggo many mosques performed the takbiran on Sunday night and in Kediri several Muslim boarding schools managed by NU will celebrate the holiday Monday.