2023

Pakistan announces five-day holiday for Eid ul-Fitr

The federal government of Pakistan has declared a nationwide public holiday for five days on the occasion of Eidul Fitr in 2023.

The holidays will begin on Friday, April 21st, and run until Tuesday, April 25st, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.

The Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council (RHRC) has said that Eidul Fitr is likely to be celebrated across the nation this year on Saturday, April 22nd 2023.

The council’s Secretary-General, Khalid Ijaz Mufti, said that the committee’s meeting is set to convene on Thursday, April 20th, in order to sight the Shawwal moon.

The exact date of Eidul Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.

If the crescent is sighted on Thursday evening, then Eidul Fitr will be celebrated on Friday, April 21st. However, he added, it was unlikely that the moon will be sighted the same evening.

Mufti said that Eid will most likely be celebrated on April 22nd after completing 30 fasting days of the holy month of Ramazan.

According to the council, the birth of the moon is expected to occur on Thursday, April 20th, at 9:13am Pakistan time. On the evening of the 29th of Ramazan, the moon’s age at sunset should be more than 19 hours for sighting. However, in all areas of Pakistan, it will be less than 10 hours, it added.

It said that the difference between sunset and moonset, which should be more than 40 minutes, will only be 21 minutes in Peshawar, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Charsadda, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Quetta, and Jiwani, and 20 minutes in Lahore and Karachi.

Eidul Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramazan, during which Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. The festival is typically celebrated with prayers, family gatherings, and feasting.

Eidul Fitr is one of the two major Islamic festivals that marks the culmination of the Holy Month of Ramadan, during which Muslims all over the world observe fast, and pray.