A Discourse of Mabims New Criteria: Reading Difference Frequency Between Wujud al-Hilal and Imkan ar-Rukyat

In determining the beginning of the month of the Hijri calendar, the Indonesian government has used the criterion of crescent visibility (Imkan ar-Rukyat) adopted from the MABIMS agreement. This criterion has three conditions. Namely, the crescent should be at least at 20; the elongation is minimum at 30; the age of the crescent must be more than eight hours after conjunction. In August 2016, MABIMS made a great deal to revise this criterion. The new criterion has two conditions. Namely, the crescent should be at least 30, and the elongation is minimum at 6,40. This new criterion is planned to apply in Indonesia for the next few years and is wished to be accepted by all communities. The emergence of this new criterion leads to two main questions. First, how many frequencies of differences between this new criterion compared to the Wujud al-Hilal criterion, and the second is how if this new criterion is applied in Indonesia. This research used the elevation of the crescent to determine the frequency of differences between the new and Wujud al-Hilal criteria. It was then analyzed based on the former and the new criterion of the Imkan ar-Rukyat and the Wujud al-Hilal. The result shows significant differences between the new and Wujud al-Hilal criteria. If this new criterion is used in Indonesia, the togetherness of the beginning of the month of the Hijri calendar will decrease.