Ministries, government institutions and public entities in Qatar will be closed for the Eid al-Fitr holidays starting Sunday, July 27 and ending Monday, Aug. 4, QNA reports.
Employees are expected to return to work on Tuesday, Aug. 5, making the holiday 11 days – or seven working days, not counting the weekends. Last year, the public sector had a similar 12-day break.
Meanwhile, banks are expected to take a three-day holiday, but the specific dates have not yet been announced by Qatar Central Bank, QNA states.
Banks usually close to coincide with the three days of Eid, and the exact start date of the holiday also remains unknown for now, as Muslims wait to spot the new moon.
Monday, July 28 is the likely beginning of festivities – though Tuesday is also possible. Qatar will make its official announcement regarding this on Sunday.
For anyone who has urgent paperwork to be processed, make sure to head to government offices tomorrow. The Ramadan hours for many of these services can be found here.
Thoughts?
Sorry if this is a dumb question: Humans have understood and correctly predicted the lunar cycle for centuries now. What’s the big deal about actually sighting it? Why not just declare the Eid date ahead of time so people can plan ahead? Is it a power trip?
Because the Prophet of Islam said that “Sight the moon and fast, and sight the moon and break the fast. And if it is obscured by the clouds then complete 30 days.”
The matter is not if the moon is present or no, its about sighting it. Its the Sunnah of the Prophet.
the idea is to do it the same way they did back then. although some scholars would say there is no need to actually see the moon with the naked eye just ask an astronomer (although as of today they are a minority last i checked)
Thanks Mohammed. There was a reply up for a short time that quoted the Quran about actually seeing the moon regarding the beginning and end of the fast. That was helpful too as I do not know the Quran. So would some say that Muslim countries that don’t wait for the moon and announce Eid ahead of time (like UAE) are less “righteous” (not even sure if that’s the correct word to use in this instance, maybe “traditional” is a better choice?) than Qatar?
Forget the moon story, Eid will be Eid when the moon is sighted, its a religious belief.
More important issues are the official Eid days off & you face being a prisoner in Qatar due to your sponsor not allowing you to exit for a short vacation with your family. How do we counter this, report to CNN, UN, FIFA, etc can be real devastating to WC2022 & ongoing kafala system fiasco. We expats are not prisoners in our own country but to be held by these Qatari sponsors as prisoners in Qatar is an injustice & is no different to what is happening in Gaza right now. We the expats are like the Gaza people & these Qatari sponsors are like the Israelis, what is the difference, we are stuck here?
I mean these holidays are meant to be spent in joyous celebrations with your family, is this what Islam teaches, to stop people from enjoying the Eid days with your families? Very sad indeed!!!!!!!! Practice What You Preach
At least we aren’t being slaughtered in every corner of Qatar. You are still breathing. That’s the biggest difference.
“We the expats are like the Gaza people & these Qatari sponsors are like the Israelis, what is the difference, we are stuck here?”
umm exaggerate much?
What are you talking about @AAM? FIFA, CNN, Israel, Gaza? Are you sober man? 🙂
Don’t understand the Gaza reference but Eid starts on the new moon, that is not a religious belief it is a scientific fact!
Eid holidays don’t remain unclear, we know exactly when they are. The same we know New Year’s Day and the earth revolves around the sun.
It is a nice custom waiting for someone to sight the moon like children sending Santa Claus a letter before Christmas but business can give advanced notice of their eid holidays.
No you cannot know it exactly before. There is always the possibility to have it one day before/after even when you use sophisticated tools and calculation methods.
Please tell me you are joking. If not no wonder education in the Arab world is poor. You can’t ignore evidence and facts.
The custom is dictated by rulings given by the Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W), which state that if you sight the new moon, observe fast, and if you sight it (new moon of shawwal), break fast, but if you are clouded over, then observe the 30 days.
Regardless if the moon is there or not, it’s about visual identification, so, no you don’t know exactly when they are until the 29th night of Ramadan.
To be fair though when they predict when its likely to be there are normally correct give or take a few days. You can see when it is likey to be next year. Unless you are really tight for leave and can only go during the these specific days.