Saudi to mark Eid al-Fitr Sunday, other Mideast states on Monday

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf Arab states are to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday from Sunday but other Middle Eastern countries will not do so until Monday.

“The Supreme Court has decided that tomorrow, Sunday, March 30, 2025, is the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” the Saudi Royal Court said in a statement carried by official media.

The timing of the holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar also announced Sunday would be the first day of the holiday.

But neighboring Oman and Jordan, as well as Shiite-majority Iran, said that Eid al-Fitr would not begin until Monday because the crescent moon had yet to be sighted. Egypt and other North African countries followed suit.

During Ramadan, observant Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, and traditionally gather with family and friends to break their fast in the evening.

Fasting is widely practised in Saudi Arabia, home of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.