Eid is the festival held by Muslims to celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, where Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset every day.
Known as Eid ul-Fitr, which means ‘Breaking of the Fast’, it falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar.
But when is Eid al-Fitr in 2023 and how do you wish someone a Happy Eid?
According to British newspaper The Daily Mail, the majority consensus among Islamic scholars is that Ramadan began on the evening of Wednesday, 22 March, 2023. This means that it is set to end on the evening of Thursday, 20 April.
In 2024, Ramadan is expected to start on the evening of Sunday, March 10, and run up until Monday, April 8, 2024.
The date of Eid al-Fitr changes due to a difference between the solar Gregorian calendar and the Hajri calendar, which is governed by the time the moon takes to go through each of its lunar phases.
This means that the date of Eid ul-Fitr is not fixed in the Gregorian calendar.
This is because there are 365 days in a solar year, which equates to approximately 354 in a lunar year. Consequently, the dates of Islamic holidays move forward by 10 to 11 days each year.
In the Islamic calendar, Eid al-Fitr always falls on the first day of Shawwal, which is the tenth month.
