Indonesia Will Celebrate Eid Al-Adha on 29 June 2023

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that the Eid Al-Adha (Idul Adha) day will be Thursday, 29 June 2023. The date is determined based on the start of the month of Zulhijah (Dhul-Hijja).

Based on the ministry's sky observation, the first day of Zulhijah will be on Tuesday, 20 June 2023.

Zulhijah is one of the months in Islamic calendar. Previously, there was a possibility that Zulhijah would start on Tuesday, but the ministry did not sight the new moon in the sky on Sunday evening.

Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. The first day of a new month is marked by the new lunar cycle.

However, two largest Islamic groups in Indonesia do not agree with the date. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) goes with the government's decision, meanwhile Muhammadiyah has decided Eid Al-Adha will be on 28 June 2023.

Eid Al-Adha is a national holiday. The Secretary of Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu’ti has requested the government to add an extra holiday for Muhammadiyah followers, so they could celebrate the day at ease.

The government is still mulling the idea, but no decision yet.

During Eid Al-Adha, Indonesian Muslims would sacrifice cattles (qurban), usually cows and goats, and then share the meat to people who need them. The qurban process is usually done in mosques.

Per tradition, Indonesian presidents usually would sacrifice huge cows for the people. Last year, President Joko Widodo bought a 1,1 ton cow for qurban. The cow was prized at Rp112 million.

Devira Prastiwi and Arthur Gideon contributed to this report.