Muhammadiyah Declares March 20 as Eid al-Fitr 1447 AH
Jakarta.One of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organizations, Muhammadiyah, has set Eid al-Fitr 1447 AH to fall on Friday, March 20.
The decision was announced by the organization’s Tarjih and Tajdid Council, which determines Islamic dates using the Global Unified Hijri Calendar (KHGT) system.
The date follows the decision of the 32nd National Conference of Muhammadiyah’s Tarjih Council, which adopted the KHGT system as the basis for determining the Islamic calendar. The schedule was also stipulated in Muhammadiyah Central Leadership Decree No. 2/MLM/I.0/E/2025 on the determination of Ramadan, Shawwal, and Zulhijah 1447 AH.
Hamim Ilyas, chairman of Muhammadiyah’s Tarjih and Tajdid Council, said the start of Shawwal follows the conference’s decision to implement the global Islamic calendar system.
“The beginning of Shawwal 1447 AH refers to the decision of the 32nd National Conference of Muhammadiyah’s Tarjih Council on the Global Unified Hijri Calendar,” Hamim said in a statement on Thursday.
The KHGT system is a global Islamic calendar based on modern astronomical calculations that applies the principle of a single Islamic date worldwide.
Under this system, a new lunar month begins if, anywhere on Earth before 24:00 UTC, the moon meets the criteria of a minimum elongation of 8 degrees and a crescent altitude of at least 5 degrees at sunset.
“Based on astronomical data that meet the KHGT criteria — where a region records an elongation of 8 degrees and a crescent altitude of 5 degrees before 24:00 UTC — the first day of Shawwal 1447 Hijriyah falls on Friday, March 20, 2026,” Hamim said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government and other Islamic organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama have yet to determine the date of Eid al-Fitr. Authorities plan to hold an isbat session, or moon-sighting meeting, on March 19 to decide the official date.
The meeting will take place at the H.M. Rasjidi Auditorium at the ministry’s headquarters in Jakarta starting at 4 p.m., involving astronomy experts from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency and the National Research and Innovation Agency, as well as representatives from observatories, planetariums and Islamic organizations.
Both the government and NU use a combination of astronomical calculations (hisab) and direct moon sighting (rukyatul hilal) based on the MABIMS criteria — a regional agreement among Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that sets parameters for the possibility of sighting the new crescent moon.Because different calculation methods are used, Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia may fall on different dates between Muhammadiyah, the government and other Islamic organizations.
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