National Holidays

Important dates in the Islamic calendar

Important dates in the Islamic calendar are the Prophet’s ascension ( Al Isr’a Wal Mairaj) and the Prophet’s birthday ( Maulid Al-Nabi), the start of Ramadan and the two ‘festival’ ( eid) holidays, Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.

Eid Al-Adha and Eid Al-Fitr normally last about a week. However, there’s generally a difference between the duration of holidays in the public and private sectors, government workers generally enjoying longer breaks than those in private enterprise (some things are the same in the Gulf as in the west!). Another holiday called Ashura, which commemorates the death in battle of the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husain, is observed in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.

Islamic holidays are determined by lunar sightings but, whereas some Muslim countries use information derived from observatories, unaided observations are preferred in Qatar, which makes exact dates difficult to predict, as the moon may be obscured by cloud, for example. There’s also a complicated conversion to be made from the Islamic to the Gregorian calendar. The dates shown below are therefore approximate, and the only way to be sure that a holiday has begun is to hear the gun that’s traditionally fired on such occasions, to hear an announcement on the local radio or to wake to hear less than usual traffic noise!

Holiday

Date (Islamic calendar)

Approx. Date (Gregorian Calendar)

Eid Al-Adha

10 Dhul-Hijah

Jan - Feb

Muslim New Year

1 Muharram

Feb - March

Ashura

10 Muharram

Feb - March

Prophet’s birthday

12 Rabi II

April - May

Prophet’s ascension

27 Rajab

September

Ramadan

1 Ramadan

October

Eid Al-Fitr

1 Shawaal

November

Emir’s Accession

 

22nd February

National Day/Independence Day

 

3rd September

 

Note that a National ‘Day’ usually lasts two or three days!


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