"Due to the pandemic, we will organise the session through combined online and offline methods that would adhere to health protocols," the ministry's Director General of Islamic Community Guidance, Kamaruddin Amin, noted in his written statement received in Jakarta on Monday.
The Isbat session will take place at the ministry's office, and participants of the offline session will be restricted according to the prevailing COVID-19 health protocols, he remarked, adding that other participants would partake through online teleconference.
"Despite health protocols being significantly less strict than last year, we must continue to adhere to the protocols. The meeting hall will be disinfected, and seats will be arranged in accordance with social distancing measures. The body temperature of offline participants will be checked (before entry), and masks are required to be worn during the meeting," Amin noted.
Meanwhile, the ministry's Director of Islamic Affairs and Sharia Guidance, Adib, remarked that the ministry's Hijri Calendar Unification Team, ambassadors of foreign countries, and representatives of Islamic organisations will be invited to the Isbat session.
Representatives of the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) and the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) are also invited to attend the session, he noted.
"We also invite the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leadership and House of Representatives (DPR RI) Commission VIII legislators to the session," Adib added.
The director expounded that the Isbat session will be divided into three phases, with the first phase being the presentation of the astronomical observation report by the ministry's Hijri Calendar Unification Team that will start at 5 p.m. local time (UTC +7).
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"The presentation will be conducted during an open session and will be broadcast through live streaming," Adib confirmed.
The final date of the first day of Ramadan 1443 H will be decided during the second phase of the Isbat session to be conducted behind closed doors after the Magrib prayer, he stated.
Apart from the astronomical observation report, reports of visual observation of the new moon conducted at 78 locations nationwide will be referred for the final decision, he added.
"The session will be ended during the third phase when the Isbat session results are announced in a teleconference broadcast by national television TVRI and ministry's social media channels," Adib remarked.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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