Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were left hungry and disappointed yesterday after Indonesia's government declared that the Moon was not in the right position to herald the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. As worshippers in other Muslim nations celebrated the festival day of Eid al-Fitr by tucking into elaborate feasts, attending special prayers and wearing new clothes, astronomers and religious leaders in Indonesia – the world's most populous Islamic country – sparked confusion by declaring that the Moon was too low in the sky for festivities to commence there.

Having prepared to mark one of the most joyous days in the Islamic calendar, many crestfallen Indonesians – 90 per cent of the country's 245 million people are Muslim – returned to another day of fasting between sunrise and sunset, as is customary during Ramadan. Thousands of workers, who had made their annual journey into the countryside on crammed trains to visit relatives, were torn over whether to try to return to work, because some businesses shifted their holiday from Tuesday to today in response to the government's declaration.

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