Muslims bid farewell to Ramadan, begin Eid al Fitr holidays
Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Sudan begin Eid al Fitr on Friday, while Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and India will celebrate the holiday on Saturday as there were no sightings of the Shawwal crescent there.
Thousands of Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayers at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday.
Large parts of the Muslim world have marked the end of the fasting month of Ramadan at sundown and ushered in the holiday of Eid al Fitr.
The festivities were overshadowed by raging battles for control of Sudan and a deadly stampede in Yemen in which more than 80 people trying to collect aid were killed.
In other parts of the region, the holiday came against the backdrop of reconciliation and rapprochement between former rivals.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, and other Muslim countries have announced the holiday of Eid al Fitr marking the end of the Ramadan fast will begin on Friday.
In some other countries, authorities have said the holiday will start on Saturday.
"Tomorrow, Friday, is the first day of Eid al Fitr for this year," with Thursday the last day of the holy month of Ramadan, the official Saudi Press Agency said on its Twitter account, citing a royal court statement.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led the re-opening ceremony of Sultanahmet Mosque (The Blue Mosque), which had been under restoration since 2018, after performing the Eid al Fitr prayer at the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Nearly 120,000 Muslims early on Friday offered special prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which remains under Israeli occupation, according to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Administration.
For Muslims, Al Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site, and today is the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, directly following the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Today’s so far peaceful atmosphere contrasts with a large stretch of April, which saw escalated tensions after Israeli forces stormed Al Aqsa and forcibly removed worshippers.
Since the early morning, Palestinian Muslims of all ages set out to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque.
The timing of Eid al Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent Moon, in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar.
The holiday is normally celebrated with family gatherings.
Authorities in Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Palestine, and Sudan also announced Eid al Fitr will start on Friday.
Libya, ruled by two rival administrations, will mark Eid on Friday in the country's east and on Saturday in areas under the control of the Tripoli-based government.
People sit together to break their Ramadan fast at the end of the last day of the Muslim holy month and the start of the holiday of Eid al Fitr, near the Dome of the Rock shrine at Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
Statements from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iraq's highest Shia authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, said Eid would start on Saturday in their countries.
Iraq's Sunni authorities announced the holiday would begin on Friday. The governments of Lebanon and Syria, both in the throes of crippling economic crises, said Friday would mark the beginning of the days-long holiday.
In Oman, too, the holiday will start on Saturday.
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People buy traditional sweets in preparation for the Eid al Fitr celebrations, at a shop, in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Eid in South Asia
In South Asia, Pakistan and India will also start celebrating Eid on Saturday.
Clerics of Pakistan's state-backed Moon sighting committee announced at a news conference in Islamabad that Eid al Fitr would be celebrated on Saturday.
Eid will be celebrated on Saturday in India, the India Union Muslim League said, adding the Moon was not sighted on Thursday.
Kashmiri Muslims shop ahead of Eid al Fitr in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir.
In Afghanistan, the head of the Taliban-appointed judiciary, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, said the holiday would start on Friday.
In Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population worldwide, the second-largest Islamic group, Muhammadiyah — with over 60 million members — said that according to its astronomical calculations, the holiday of Eid al Fitr starts on Friday.
However, the country's religious affairs minister announced on Thursday that the start of the holiday would fall on Saturday.
In United States and Canada, Eid will be celebrated on Friday.
Women shop at a market ahead of Eid al Fitr in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Eid al Fitr is observed on the first days of Shawwal, the tenth month in the Islamic calendar.
The daytime fasting month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
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.
It is also a time for prayer, with the faithful converging in large numbers on mosques, especially at night.
Muslim women perform Eid al-Fitr prayer at Abdul-Qadir Gilani Complex in Baghdad to mark the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
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