Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt's main authority for issuing religious edicts, announced that Friday 21 April will mark the first day of the Arabic month of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar year 1444, which signifies the beginning of the religious holiday Eid Al-Fitr.
Eid Al-Fitr is a significant religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
This festive break spans three days and is one of two major religious holidays in Islam, the other being Eid Al-Adha, which is observed on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic Hijri calendar.
On the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr and Sinai Liberation Day, the Egyptian government has declared a paid holiday for employees from 20 to 25 April.
The first day of Eid, marked on the first day of Shawwal, according to the Islamic Hijri calendar, is based on lunar calculations. Months vary between 29 and 30 days, depending on crescent sightings.
Traditionally, a sighting of the crescent with the naked eye after sunset in any place in the country on Saturday, the 29th day of Ramadan, would indicate the end of the holy month and the start of Eid the day after.
However, many Muslim-majority countries, including Egypt, have relied on astronomical calculations to determine the start of Islamic lunar months in recent years while still observing crescent sightings as an honoured tradition.
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