The UAE has now declared the Eid Al Adha holidays for all workers in the Emirates…

Next weekend (September 1 and 2) coincides with the Eid Al Adha holidays in the UAE, and we now know that this means a four day weekend for the public sector and a three day weekend for the private sector.

The UAE’s Federal Authority for Human Resources has announced that the holiday for private sector workers will mean Thursday August 31, Friday September 1 and Saturday September 2 are off days. Sunday will be work as usual. Meanwhile, government workers will get next Thursday August 31 to Sunday September 3 off, with work resuming on Monday September 4.

This followed the announcement earlier this week from authorities in Saudi Arabia that the first day of Eid Al Adha will fall on Friday September 1.

*ALSO READ: Four days of fireworks in Dubai over Eid Al Adha*

The Saudi Supreme Court has confirmed that Wednesday August 23 is the first day of the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah – this means that Arafat Day (the peak of the hajj ritual) will fall on August 31, and the first day of Eid Al Adha will be on September 1.

In Saudi Arabia they have announced that public sector workers will have from Thursday August 24 to Sunday September 10 off as a public holiday period.

Eid Al Adha honours Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail (which is why goats are symbolically sacrificed over this period), and it begins with a prayer just after sunrise.

OTHER PUBLIC HOLIDAYS STILL TO COME THIS YEAR…

Thursday September 21 – Al Hijri

Islamic New Year in 2017 will mark the year 1438 – and, while the date may change, it’s likely to fall on Thursday September 21, making it the second long weekend in September. Some are predicting, however, that it will fall on Friday September 22.

Thursday November 30 – Commemoration Day

uae national day

Formerly referred to as Martyr’s Day, this new holiday honours the Emiratis who have died while protecting their country. It will always fall on November 30, last year it fell on a Wednesday but we didn’t get that specific day off (we instead got a combined day off for this and National Day). But we’re likely to get Thursday November 30 off as it falls on the same day as the next official public holiday…

Thursday November 30 – The birthday of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)

The date of this holiday is called by the moon-sighting committee, but it is predicted to fall on Thursday November 30 in 2017 – the same day as Commemoration Day. This will likely mean a four day weekend when combined with National Day.

As the Prophet’s birthday is a lunar holiday, this will likely be the only year that it coincides with Commemoration Day. 

Saturday December 2 – National Day

UAE National Day falls on December 2 every year, irrespective of the day. As it falls on a Saturday in 2017 it’s likely a day off will be granted on the Sunday (maybe as a combined public holiday with Commemoration Day and/or the birthday of Prophet Mohammed). When releasing the official list of public holidays in 2017, the government wrote down National Day as December 2/3, perhaps acknowledging that the Sunday will be off.

2017 will mark the UAE’s 46th birthday.

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