thurs hari raya??

[luke]

is it?

[CH]

Since when?

[luke]

dunno some people talking abt it..

cos saudi arabi, singapore and indonesia hari raya esok.

[jeffooi]

Berita Harian, Singapura
4 Disember 2002

MUSLIM DI S'PURA DIJANGKA BERAYA LUSA

UMAT Islam di Singapura dijangka menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri lusa berdasarkan takwim, atau kalendar Islam, yang disiapkan Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis).

Kalendar itu menunjukkan 1 Syawal jatuh pada Jumaat, 6 Disember 2002.

Mufti Syed Isa Mohamed Semait dijangka mengumumkan tarikh tamat Ramadan dan Hari Raya menerusi radio dan televisyen malam esok.

Sementara itu, Brunei dan Malaysia belum dapat menetapkan tarikh Hari Raya kerana perlu melihat anak bulan.


FULL STORY:
http://cyberita.asia1.com.sg/singapu...11035,00.html?

[jeffooi]

THE JAKARTA POST
December 04, 2002

Muslims to observe Idul Fitri on different days
Tiarma Siboro and Bambang Nurbianto,
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations -- Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadyah -- have decided to celebrate Idul Fitri, the end of the fasting month, on two different days: Thursday for Muhammadiyah and Friday for NU.

The government, on the other hand, has not made any decision yet. Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agiel Husein Al Munawar, indicated on Tuesday that the government would choose Friday as the first day of Idul Fitri.

The minister further said that based on a recent meeting of Southeast Asian ministers of religious affairs in Brunei, celebrations should fall on Friday.

The head of NU's Astronomy Department, A. Ghazalie Masroeri, said on Tuesday it had decided to celebrate Idul Fitri on Friday, based on both hisab (astronomical calculations) and ru'yat (sighting of the moon).

Earlier, Muhammadyah said the celebration would be on Thursday. Its chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif urged any parties not to politicize differences between NU and Muhammadyah on Idul Fitri to avoid unnecessary disputes among Muslims.

* * *

Differences in the date of Idul Fitri celebration between Muhammadiyah and NU will affect Muslims in Indonesia as the two organization command tens of millions of people.

In the past few years, NU and Muhammadiyah celebrated Idul Fitri on the same days. However, this year is not the first time that Muslims in Indonesia will celebrate Idul Fitri on different days.


FULL STORY:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detail...204.A05&irec=4

[jeffooi]

Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have the same practice:
Sighting of the new moon.


* * *
www.arabnews.com
Wednesday, December 4, 2002

350 sites readied for Eid prayers in Riyadh
By M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News Staff

RIYADH, 4 December 2002 — The Riyadh governorate, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and a number of private sector companies, including hotels and restaurants, have made elaborate arrangements for celebrating Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan fasting.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has announced that Eid prayers will be held on 20 Eid grounds and in 331 mosques in and around the city. The ministry has also readied a number of alternative sites in case of rain.

Abdullah ibn Mufleh Al-Hamed, director of Endowments and Mosques Affairs at the ministry, said the Eid prayers will be held at 6.45 a.m. in Riyadh, 22 minutes after sunrise in the region, either on Thursday or Friday, depending on the sighting of the new moon.


FULL STORY:
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20833

[luke]

very informative

[jeffooi]

Nolah, Luke, I was also hearing what you heard.
That Indonesia is having Raya on Thursday.

Years back, Saudi Arabia, west of Malaysia, did celebrate Raya
ahead of us by one day.

And Indonesia has celebrated ahead of Malaysia several times
too.

I was actually fascinated by the fact that Singapore, being clinical
in all things they approach, has resorted to using only hisab
instead of the complement of moon-sighting to determine the
date.

And the way Indonesia allows different schools of Islamic practice
to decide the date of Aidil Fitri.

How I hope tomorrow is holiday

[jeffooi]

BERNAMA.COM
December 04 , 2002 21:34PM

Muslims In Malaysia To Celebrate Hari Raya Puasa On Friday

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Muslims in Malaysia will
celebrate Hari Raya Puasa on Friday.

The announcement was made by the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal,
Engku Tan Sri Ibrahim Engku Ngah, over Radio Television
Malaysia (RTM) at about 7.50 tonight. -- BERNAMA

SOURCE:
http://www.bernama.com/B2002/news.sh...eral/ge0412_18

[jeffooi]

Some info about ru'yah - the sighting of new moon for Ramadan and Syawal.


UTUSAN MALAYSIA
Jumaat, 5 Disember 2002

Pencerapan anak bulan secara saintifik
Oleh Norul Ridzuan Zakaria

PENCERAPAN anak bulan Ramadan dan Syawal adalah aktiviti keagamaan yang dilakukan setiap tahun oleh umat Islam selama lebih daripada 1000 tahun...

Sekiranya diteliti pada sudut astronomi dan sains angkasa, pencerapan anak bulan Ramadan dan Syawal boleh berkembang sebagai aktiviti saintifik di samping aktiviti keagamaan.

Banyak syarat yang ditetapkan dalam pencerapan anak bulan ini merupakan syarat-syarat yang bercirikan penyelidikan dan pembangunan sains.

Syarat utama yang ditetapkan untuk aktiviti pencerapan ini adalah saiz anak bulan, iaitu saiz bulan yang paling kecil. Umur bulan pada ketika ini adalah sehari, iaitu hari pertama fasa bulan. Kedudukan anak bulan pula adalah berhampiran dengan ufuk, di mana biasanya terdapat awan.

Di samping itu, waktu pencerapan anak bulan pula adalah waktu senja, bila mana masih terdapat cahaya matahari. Kesemua syarat yang ditetapkan ini merupakan syarat-syarat yang membuatkan pencerapan paling sukar dilakukan.


- NORUL RIDZUAN ZAKARIA ialah Presiden Institut Kajian Angkasa Malaysia (IKAM).


FULL STORY:
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/cont...a&pg=re_07.htm

[kwchang]

It is very obvious that Saudi Arabia will appear to start Syawal (Hari Raya Aidilfitri) earlier than Malaysia. This is basically due to our geographical locations in conjunction with the astronomical positioning of the moon.

I believe the conditions for sighting of the moon are very precise. We in the East will get the sunset about 5 hours earlier than Saudi Arabia. In that 5 hours, the ascension of the moon will progress. Therefore, where the moon sighting at Terengganu will determine that it has not met its criteria for Syawal to be on Thursday (thus we have it on Friday), by the time the evening moon is sighted in Saudi Arabia, the 5-hour lapse will allow the moon to ascend to the correct height above the Saudi horizon to determine that Aidilfitri in Saudi to start on Saudi's Thursday.

Now all this moon-sighting may sound pretty backward to some of us, but I can assure you that the Arabians are pretty advanced in astrology and just as the Chinese in the East, they were expert mariners purely on the fact that they had perfected the science of calculating the positions of the heavenly bodies very precisely. Astrology is very essential for navigation and that is what made them great mariners. Similarly, this knowledge can be used to determine Aidilfitri and I am sure the astrological calculations will determine it to be the same day as the moon sighting.