STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Islam’s biggest holiday Eid al-Fitr is typically celebrated on different dates each year in Indonesia, but the potential disparity is causing a headache this year for officials trying to decide how to accommodate the various interpretations of the Eid prayer by Muslim groups later this week.
In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, the day of Eid is usually decided by the Ministry of Religion. On Thursday, it will do an astronomical calculation and observe the sighting of the new moon to determine the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the start of the Shawwal month in the Islamic calendar. Eid falls on the first day of Shawwal.
However, various Muslim groups in the country are free to do their own calculations, which means that some groups this year will celebrate Eid on Friday, and the rest.
