UAE: First day of Eid Al Adha 2025 revealed after Dhul Hijjah moon spotted
The UAE has confirmed it will celebrate Eid Al Adha on Friday, June 6, after sighting the Dhul Hijjah moon on Tuesday evening. Sighting the crescent translates to the first day of Dhul Hijjah starting tomorrow, Wednesday, May 28.
Thus, Eid Arafah which is the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah translates to June 5, which is a Thursday. And then Eid Al Adha will commence on June 6. This is the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah.
Holidays for Residents
According to a UAE Cabinet resolution issued in 2024, residents in the UAE will observe four holidays for Eid Al Adha this year.
Holidays for residents will kick off on the Day of Eid Arafah followed by three days’ holiday for Eid Al Adha.
Eid Al Adha Holidays
Once the crescent moon has been sighted, UAE residents are entitled the four consecutive holiday days from Thursday through Sunday—creating a long weekend.
Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the Islamic calendar is based on moon phases. Thus, moon sighting is crucial in determining the dates of Islamic holidays.
Earlier, officials informed the public to keep an eye out for the crescent on May 27 in the evening as it could be seen within the UAE’s skies. Everyone who managed to see the crescent was advised to notify the Crescent Sighting Committee.
The Dhul Hijjah crescent was said to be captured by astronomers on a number of occasions throughout Tuesday as reported by UAE’s Astronomy Centre.
The first image was captured via the Al Khatim Observatory in Abu Dhabi during ‘midday’ aka eleven o’clock which was when the sun was 5.5 degrees awy from the moon.
That same observatory got another image at 3:15 PM which showed that the moon was now 6.5 degrees away from the sun. The crescent was finally spotted later on around ‘post sunset’ aka 7:05 PM, with 7.6 degrees distance from the sun.
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