MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA – The Muhammadiyah Decree Number 1/M/MLM/I.0/2023 determines 1 Ramadan 1444 H on Thursday, 23 March 2023, 1 Shawwal 1444 H on Friday, 21 April 2023, and 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 H on Monday, 19 June 2023.
Regarding the announcement, the President of Muhammadiyah Haedar Nashir said that Indonesian Muslims should appreciate, respect, and tolerance if the determination of Islamic days is different.
“The difference of the beginning of Ramadan, Shawwal, and Dhul-Hijjah has happened, and it is not something new. Indonesian Muslims has got accustomed to having the difference,” said Haedar at the press conference of ‘The Enactment of Reckoning of Ramadan, Shawwal, and Dhul-Hijjah 1444 H’ on Monday (6/2) at the Muhammadiyah Office of Yogyakarta.
Dealing with the difference, Haedar said that Muslims should highly uphold tolerance and wisdom in religious practices.
“The dissimilarity may not trigger division among Indonesian Muslims because it is regarding ijtihad which becomes part of the journey of Muslims to understand, respect, and appreciate one another,” said Haedar.
Furthermore, Ramadan and Shawwal should be utilized to perform worship, get closer to Allah, do good deeds, and improve ourselves to be better.
Haedar, the Professor of Sociology, said that the difference should become power for Muslims as individuals and communities. Indeed, Muhammadiyah people may not get worried about the determination since it is decided based on science and religion.
“Muhammadiyah applies a reckoning method in line with Al-Qur’an, the strong hadith of the prophet, ijtihad. The decision-making really has a strong religious basis, so it’s not true that it is purely scientific rationality,” Hedar said.
Muhammadiyah’s ijtihad in determining Islamic days through the reckoning method can be accounted religiously and scientifically.
In addition, the complete enactment (written in Indonesian) is accessible here.
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