JAKARTA, Indonesia – Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia celebrated the eve of Hijriyah Islamic New Year 1435 on Tuesday (November 5th), local media reported.

In Indonesia, hundreds of Muslims in Semarang congregated at the Masjid Agung for mass prayer to ring in the New Year, which also coincides with the Javanese New Year, according to The Jakarta Post.

The Gorontalo celebrations were marked with mass prayers and a torch carnival and hundreds in Yogyakarta marched silently around the Yogyakarta Palace fortress. Those in Solo marked the Javanese New Year with an early-morning white buffalo parade.

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday his government would uphold Islam while keeping to the concept of Wasatiyyah (moderation), The Malay Mail reported.

"It will produce Muslims who are always creative and innovative, who stay relevant in the current times and challenge the mainstream," he said in a message posted on his blog, 1malaysia.com.my.

Referring to an ongoing controversy over the use of the term "Allah" by non-Muslims, he vowed to uphold what he described as the correct use of the term. An appeals court last month sided with a Home Ministry ban on the use of "Allah" by Christians to refer to the God shared by the Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.