Jakarta. The Indonesian government has set Eid al-Fitr this year to fall on Saturday, March 21, following an official moon-sighting process, despite millions of Muslims affiliated with Muhammadiyah marking the holiday a day earlier.

The decision was announced after a team from the Ministry of Religious Affairs conducted observations of the crescent moon, or hilal, on Thursday. Officials concluded that the visibility criteria required to determine the start of Shawwal — the 10th month in the Islamic calendar — had not been met.

“The 1st of Shawwal 1447 Hijri falls on Saturday, March 21, 2026, in the Gregorian calendar,” said Cecep Nurwendaya, a member of the observation team, speaking to reporters in Jakarta.

He explained that Indonesia applies two key parameters to establish the beginning of Shawwal: a minimum Hilal (crescent moon) altitude of 3 degrees and an elongation — the angular distance between the moon and the sun — of at least 6.4 degrees. Both conditions must be satisfied simultaneously.

While the Hilal altitude in parts of Aceh, Indonesia’s westernmost province, reached the required 3 degrees, the elongation remained below the 6.4-degree threshold, preventing the official declaration of Eid for Friday.

Differences in the timing of Eid al-Fitr are relatively common in Indonesia, where various Islamic organizations use different calculation methods. Some groups had already begun celebrations as early as Thursday.

The government has repeatedly urged the public to respect these differences and maintain interfaith harmony and social cohesion during the holiday period.

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