When is Eid Al Fitr 2025 expected to start in the UAE?

Public sector workers in the UAE will be granted paid leave for the first three days of Shawwal to mark Eid Al Fitr, the government confirmed on Monday. The exact start date of Shawwal will be determined by the UAE's moon-sighting committee in the final days of Ramadan.

Each month in the Islamic calendar lasts for 29 or 30 days. As Ramadan began on March 1, the first day of Shawwal will be on either Sunday, March 30 or Monday, March 31.

As Ramadan draws closer to an end, families and friends across the UAE will be preparing to celebrate Eid Al Fitr. Many will send greetings and exchange gifts with loved ones to mark the end of the holy month. Others will share food with the less privileged.

The Emirates Astronomical Society previously stated that Eid Al Fitr is likely to begin on March 31.

According to the Astronomical Society, the Eid Al Fitr holiday in the UAE will “most likely” be from Monday, March 31, until Wednesday, April 2. Combined with the Saturday and Sunday, this will be the first long holiday of the year.

Ibrahim Al Jarwan, chairman of the society’s board of directors told The National that exact dates for public holidays of Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha will be confirmed by the UAE’s Moon-sighting committee in the days preceding the holidays.

Mr Al Jarwan said that key elements in predicting the lunar cycle include the birth of the new Moon or its conjunction with the Sun, the new Moon's elevation above the horizon at sunset and the age of the new Moon at sunset.

“The Moon’s crescent will be born three hours before sunset on Saturday March 29. It will be very thin covering only 0.01 per cent of the Moon’s surface,” Mr Al Jarwan said.

Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr are decided by the Islamic calendar, which consists of 12 lunar months totalling either 354 or 355 days and because of this it moves up to 10 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar.

Eid Al Fitr marks one of two holy feasts celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

The first day of Eid Al Fitr coincides with the first day of the 10th Islamic calendar month, known as Shawwal.

Celebrations begin with Eid prayers, shortly after the dawn fajr prayer.

The Eid prayer is followed by a sermon and a big part of the ritual is greeting others who have gathered to pray and wishing them an “Eid Mubarak”.

The prayers are seen as a chance to exchange Eid greetings and meet neighbours, family and friends.

Eid Al Fitr is celebrated for three days by visiting families and loved ones.

Muslims pray around the Kaaba in Makkah. AFP

Eid Al Adha in June

For Eid Al Adha, Mr Al Jarwan said the first day of the Islamic month Dhul Hijjah will be on Wednesday, May 28.

“It means that Eid Al Adha will likely be on Friday, June 6,” added Mr Al Jarwan.

Eid Al Adha holiday will be from Thursday June 5 with Arafat Day followed by Eid Al Adha on Friday June 6 until Sunday June 8, according to astronomical calculations.

Read next: Last-minute Eid travel destinations within five hours of the UAE

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.