Eid al-Fitr 2024: When is it and how do Muslims celebrate?

Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr 2024 is fast approaching and millions of Muslims are preparing for the annual celebrations.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting where Muslims do not eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset to commemorate the Quran first being revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

The celebration means the feast, or festival, of breaking the fast and involves feasts, gatherings, prayers and gift-giving, with celebrations lasting up to three days, and marks the start of the month of Shawwal.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the Islamic faith is the predominant religion, a call to prayer at sunset from mosques signals that Muslims can break their fast and in Dubai, UAE's most populous city, thousands of Muslims gather to eat together in the streets.

Water and fruit are usually provided including dates, which are eaten first because that's what Prophet Muhammad used to break his fast; if there were no dates available, he would drink water.

There's then another call to prayer when Muslims are summoned to pray together.

The Islamic calendar follows a lunar cycle meaning that key dates are based on sightings of the moon - in this case, it's the crescent moon which usually appears after a new moon.

Ramadan can start and end on different days for different countries for that reason - for example, Saudi Arabia and the UK started Ramadan on March 11 and Morocco started on March 12.

In 2024, Ramadan started most widely on March 11 and it's expected to end on April 10 but again this is dependent on the sighting of the crescent moon - if it is not sighted, Ramadan will carry on until it is seen.

Muslims traditionally look for the crescent moon on the 29th day of Ramadan, which again, widely, is April 8 but it's expected to be visible on April 9, meaning Eid al-Fitr would start on April 10.

Australia has already announced its last day of Ramadan will be April 9 with celebrations beginning on April 10.

With lunar months being shorter than solar months, Ramadan and therefore Eid al-Fitr take place around 10 days earlier every year.

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