holy month ramadan

Holy Month Ramadan Begins May 17: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Bahrain, Kuwait

The holy month of Ramadan for Muslims is to begin Thursday, May 17, in UAE, making Wednesday the last day of Shaaban.

Wam announced in a tweet Tuesday night mentioning crescent was not sighted today. Similarly, Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait too announced the first day of Ramadan would be observed on May 17 in their respective countries.

Saudi Arabia said its moon-sighting committee met Tuesday evening and found the Ramadan crescent was not sighted.

Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, posted an Instagram story following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that this year the holy month will begin on May 17.

With the announcement the UAE government reduced working hours for people in both public and private sectors for the Ramadan month. It will be from 9am to 2pm across the country for public sector employees while for others the working hours have been shortened by two hours.

The paid parking zones in Dubai will be free during Iftar. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the metro service will be operation from 5am to 12am on both lines from Saturday to Wednesday. On Thursdays it will be operation from 5am to 1am (next day) and on Fridays the service will be made available from 10am to 1am.

The Australian National Imams Council too declared earlier today the Ramadan month to start on May 17 and Taraweeh prayers will be on May 16.

Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar while Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and so the date of Ramadan varies on the Gregorian calendar. It moves ahead by 10-11 days every year.