UAE astronomer predicts Eid Al Fitr start date

The first day of Eid Al Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, is expected fall on Wednesday June 5 in the UAE, an astronomer has predicted.

Eid, which marks the start of the month of Shawwal, will be determined after the sighting of the moon’s crescent.

“There will be difficulty in observing the moon after sunset on June 3, so we can expect the month of Shawwal to start on different dates in different countries,” local daily Gulf News quoted Ebrahim Al Jarwan, general supervisor at Sharjah Planetarium as saying.

“But in the UAE, we can make an educated guess that Ramadan will be 30 days long this year,” he said.

The sighting of the crescent marks the end of Ramadan – when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Earlier this year, the UAE announced that public and private sector workers in the country will receive the same number of holidays to celebrate Eid Al Fitr.

According to the official circular, holidays will be declared from the 29th of Ramadan until the 3rd of Shawwal.

Read: UAE public and private sector to have same number of national holidays

The official start of Eid Al Fitr will be revealed by the UAE’s moon sighting committee.