UAE announces Sunday as the first day of Eid Al Fitr

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Sunday, the 24th of May will be the first day of Shawwal 1441 H, marking the beginning of Eid Al Fitr, the UAE Moon-sighting Committee has announced, Gulf News reports.

The announcement was made after committee held a virtual meeting under the chairmanship of the Justice Minister along with a number of senior officials, after Maghrib prayer on Friday.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Badi Al Dhaheri, Minister of Justice, had issued the decision for setting up a moon-sighting committee to detect the beginning of the month of Shawwal, which marks the end of Ramadan and start of Eid Al Fitr.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Shamsi, spokesperson of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, said: “As per the Emirates Fatwa Council, Eid Al Fitr prayers should be performed at home. Taking all precautionary measures to protect yourself and your family is a religious and national commitment.”

How to perform prayers at home

Eid prayer is performed the same way as it is offered in the mosques but there will be no Khutba (sermon), which is delivered by an Imam in the mosque. It is as simple as offering any other regular daily prayers.

Eid prayer has two rak’ahs but it has extra ‘takbeers’ (takbeer is an Arabic word referring to when “Allah-u- Akbar” is said to start the prayer and the hands are raised to the ears).

In any normal prayer, you say only one ‘takbeer’ but for Eid prayer, you say ‘takbeer’ for 12 times in two rak’ahs, according to the procedure followed in the UAE.

You must say seven takbeers in the first rak’ah and then start reciting the Quran as you do in normal prayers.

You must say extra five takbeers in the beginning of second rak’ah and then complete your prayer as normal.

In mosques, the Imam delivers the khutbah (sermon) of Eid but it is not allowed while you perform the prayer at home. You can perform the prayer alone or with members of your family.