Exact number tied to length of Ramadan

The tallest clock tower in the world with the world’s largest clock face, overshadows Muslim pilgrims as they circumambulate around the Ka’aba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the minor pilgrimage, known as Umrah, in the Muslim holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia on April 15. (AP)

KUWAIT CITY, April 15: The Eid Al-Fitr holidays this year will be either for five or nine days depending on the length of the Ramadan month, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources. They explained that the number of Eid Al-Fitr holidays will be nine if the Ramadan month completes 30 days. In this case, the first day of Eid Al-Fitr will fall on Monday, June 26 and the previous day — Sunday, June 25 (Ramadan 30) — will be an official holiday. Since June 24 is a Saturday, and Tuesday, June 28 and Wednesday, June 29 will be the second and third days of Eid Al-Fitr holidays respectively, the total holidays will be from Friday, June 23 to Friday June 30. Therefore, official work will resume on Sunday, July 2.However, the possibility of this option is just 20 percent. On the other hand, if Ramadan ends within 29 days, the first day of Eid Al-Fitr will fall on Sunday, June 25. The second and third Eid Al-Fitr holidays will be on June 26 and June 27 respectively. Considering the weekend on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24, the total number of Eid Al-Fitr holidays will be only five days. In this case, official work will resume on Wednesday, June 28. However, if the Cabinet declares Wednesday, June 28 and Thursday, June 29 as official holidays, the total number of Eid Al-Fitr holidays will be nine days and official work will resume on Sunday, July 2.