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Eid Al Fitr 2023 UAE Moon Sighting Explained. The BIG Question: Will Monday be a holiday for UAE schools – or not?
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Eid Al Fitr 2023 UAE Moon Sighting Explained. The BIG Question: Will Monday be a holiday for UAE schools – or not?

by Tabitha BardaJanuary 19, 2023

The Eid Al Fitr Holiday for the public sector will start on Thursday 20 April 2023, according to announcements by UAE authorities, with the predicted dates meaning either four or five days off school for UAE children. But the BIG question now is… will Monday be a holiday in UAE schools too? Read below to discover the current situation.

The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources last week announced that the Eid al-Fitr holiday for federal entities in the UAE will begin on 29th Ramadan 1444 in the Islamic calendar (which equates to 20 April 2023 in the Gregorian calendar) until 3rd Shawwal 1444.

This has been confirmed for Dubai schools today, with the KHDA announcing that the same public holiday dates will apply in the emirate’s education sector:

As previously announced by SchoolsCompared.com, this means that Eid will run for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday – and potentially Monday, depending on whether the month of Ramadan ends on Thursday, or if it ends on Friday. This will be confirmed by moon sightings closer to the time.

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Will Monday be off for schools?

Eid Monday

It is still uncertain whether Monday 24 April will be off for schools or not. This is because the official holiday will be from the 29th day of Ramadan until the 3rd day of Shawwal, and whether Ramadan is 29 or 30 days will depend on the moon sighting.

This can be confusing for those who are not used to the conventions of the lunar calendar, so here is an explanation…

A lunar year is equal to 354 days compared with the 365 days of the solar-based Gregorian calendar of the western world, which means that Islamic dates are pushed forward by 10 or 11 days every year.

Ramadan is the name for the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and Shawwal is the name for the 10th month of the Islamic calendar.

Because the Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles, it is the sighting of the new crescent moon that determines when exactly the old month (Ramadan) ends and the new month (Shawwal) starts; this tends to take 29 – 30 days (as opposed to the 30 or 31 days of the Gregorian calendar, aside from February).

The 29th day of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar coincides with Thursday 20th April in the Gregorian calendar.

However, whether Friday 21 April coincides with the 30th day of Ramadan or the 1st day of Shawwal will depend on whether or not the new crescent moon is sighted on Thursday night.

If the new crescent moon is sighted on Thursday night, this will signal the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the month of Shawwal, and will mean Eid Al Fitr has officially started (Eid Al Fitr means ‘festival of breaking the fast’ in Arabic). In this instance, the UAE’s Eid Al Fitr public holiday (29 Ramadan to 3 Shawwal) will consist of four days:

  • 29 Ramadan (Thursday 20 April)
  • 1 Shawwal (Friday 21 April)
  • 2 Shawwal (Saturday 22 April)
  • 3 Shawwal (Sunday 23 April)

However if the moon is not sighted on Thursday night, this will mean Ramadan will run for an extra day (for 30 days in total), until the moon is sighted on Friday night. Islamic calendar months traditionally last 29 or 30 days; although there have been exceptions, these are extremely rare. In this instance, the UAE’s Eid Al Fitr public holiday (29 Ramadan to 3 Shawwal) will consist of five days:

  • 29 Ramadan (Thursday 20 April)
  • 30 Ramadan (Friday 21 April)
  • 1 Shawwal (Saturday 22 April)
  • 2 Shawwal (Sunday 23 April)
  • 3 Shawwal (Monday 24 April)

However, the most likely scenario is that schools Ramadan will last 29 days and therefore schools will be in on Monday 24 April, according to experts at the International Astronomical Centre.

The centre said the crescent of the Shawwal moon is likely to be seen on Thursday, 20th April, corresponding to 29 Ramadan. The UAE moon-sighting committee will convene to confirm the official starting date for Eid.

Whose job is it to spot the moon?

The UAE’s Moon-sighting committee – which consists of a team of astronomers, court officials and advisers – is in charge of the official announcement regarding the moon sighting and the subsequent end of Ramadan.

However, the committee will also take into consideration sightings from Muslim members of the public.

On 18 April 2023, the UAE’s moon-sighting committee all Muslims in the UAE to sight the crescent of the month of Shawwal on Thursday evening, 29th Ramadan, 1444 H, which corresponds to 20th April, 2023. The committee requested anyone who sees the crescent to contact the number 026921166 to be directed to the nearest court to record the testimony.

When will we know for sure whether Monday 24 April is off for schools or not?

According to astronomical calculations, the most likely scenario is that Ramadan will end on Thursday, and thus children will be back at school on Monday 24 April. We would recommend planning for this scenario, since it is the likeliest one. However, you may also need to prepare a Plan B when it comes to childcare options for Monday if schools are off; as explained above, whether Ramadan lasts 29 or 30 days will be determined by the sighting of the new crescent moon on Thursday night 20 April. So keep your eyes open for news reports about the moon sighting committee’s decision come sunset tomorrow, which is when we will know definitively whether Monday 24 April will be off for schools or not.

Further information

You can read more background here on the Eid holidays and what it means for schools, parents and students here. 

You can visit the Emirates Astronomical Society here.

Visit the private Emirates Astronomical Observatory for news on Moon sightings and key developments here.

GEMS World Academy in Dubai is the only School in the UAE to have its own Planetarium to even better understand the wonders of the Moon. You can find out more here.

© SchoolsCompared.com. A WhichMedia Group publication. 2023 – 2024. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Tabitha Barda
Tabitha Barda is the Senior Editor of SchoolsCompared.com. Oxbridge educated and an award winning journalist in the UAE for more than a decade, Tabitha is one of the region's shining lights in all that is education in the emirates. A mum herself, she is passionate about helping parents - and finding the stories in education that deserve telling. She is responsible for the busy 24x7 News Desk, our Advisory Boards and Specialist Panels - and Parents United's WHICHPlaydates - a regular meeting place for UAE parents to discuss the issues that matter to them, make friends and network with others. You can often find Tabitha too on Parents United - our Facebook community board, discussing the latest schools and education issues with our parent community in the UAE - and beyond.

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