Eid Al Adha 2020: UAE prayer timings announced

Mosques and Eid public praying areas will remain closed as worshippers are urged to pray at home

Eid Al Adha lights have been put up across Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

The timings for Eid Al Adha prayers in the UAE have been announced.

Authorities said no public prayers will be held in mosques on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic but special Eid supplications will be heard after dawn asking worshippers to pray at home.

Before the prayers are held, imams and worshippers take turns reciting the call to pray, known as Takbir.

The supplications often start after dawn prayers and continue until an hour before sunrise.

Muslims across the world will recite the special prayers on the first day of Eid, which is a day after Arafah.

Arafah marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.

Usually, worshippers gather in packed mosques on the first day of Eid to offer early morning prayers, but this year they have been urged to pray at home to avoid social gatherings.

Mosques and Eid public praying areas will remain closed.

Here are the prayer timings for each emirate:

• Abu Dhabi: 5:52am
• Dubai: 5:46am
• Sharjah: 5:46am
• Ajman: 5:46am
• Umm Al Quwain: 5:45am
• Ras Al Khaimah: 5:43am
• Fujairah: 5:44am
• Al Ain: 5:46am
• Al Dhafra: 5:57am

Authorities have also urged people to avoid social gatherings during the holidays.

Hefty fines would be imposed on those found not observing physical distancing for the duration of Eid Al Adha.

A livestock vendor unloads sheep from a truck ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid Al Adha in Chennai. AFP

A vendor holds melons as he waits for customers at a fruit market in Kabul. AFP

A Palestinian man sharpens a knife that will be used to slaughter cattle or cut meet during Eid Al Adha, in Gaza City. EPA

A young sheep farmer drags one of his sheep toward the sea in order to clean it in Dakar, Senegal, Western Africa. AFP

A customer arrives with his children to buy a camel in Rawalpindi. AFP

A trader using a cloth as a protective face mask deals with customers at a livestock market in New Delhi, India. REUTERS

Moroccans buy sacrificial animals in the coastal city of Skhirat, south of Rabat. AFP

A Palestinian woman prepares traditional biscuits in the West Bank city of Hebron. EPA

Jordanian Bedouin women milk sheep ahead of Eid Al Adha. EPA

A shepherd carries a sheep as his herd graze on a hilltop in Ras jebal, Bizerte, North of Tunis, Tunisia. EPA

A truck carrying livestock arrives to a market in Khartoum, Sudan. AP Photo

A child looks at a camel brought from Western Indian state of Rajasthan to Kolkata for Eid Al Adha. AFP

The first quarter moon shines above the July Column at the Place de la Bastille during the night of Al Tarwiyah, on the 8th Dhu Al Hijjah, two days before Eid Al Adha, in Paris, France. EPA

A Yemeni at a traditional Turkish bath in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA

“During Eid, we kindly ask you to comply with precautionary measures and congratulate others with words [rather than embracing family],” said Dr Omar Al Hammadi, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

He said visits must be limited to first and second-degree relatives and that people should wear face masks and keep a minimum distance of two metres from one another.

Dr Al Hammadi said families must be extra careful around people in high-risk categories, such as pregnant women, the elderly and people with certain pre-existing conditions.

Families should also refrain from giving children gifts.

“Despite positive indicators, we must still implement these safety measures to curb the spread of the virus. We are still monitoring and recording infections within families because of gatherings and failure to adhere to rules. These gatherings do not help because families do not wear masks,” he said.