Friday, October 4, 2013

Zul Hijjah - Eid al Adha 2013

Zul Hijjah - the 12th month of the Islamic Lunar Calender will be starting from 6th or 7th October 2013 depending on the sighting of the nascent Crescent of the moon in the evening of the 5th. The first 10 days of Zul Hijjah are given a lot of importance and emphasis by indulging in the remembrance of Allah (SWT).

The Islamic festival of Eid Al-Adha is celebrated in the Islamic month of Zul Hijjah. The yearly pilgrimage to Makkah Mukkaramah / The Honored City of Mecca takes place during this month. From the 8th Zul Hijjah till the 13th Zul Hijjah, variously rituals takes place which are enactment of the events that took place by Prophet Ibrahim / Abraham (A.S), his wife Bibi Hajra / Hagar, their son Prophet Ismail / Ishmael (A.S).

In Kuwait, holiday is observed between 9th till 12th Zul Hijjah. The declaration of the official holidays will be declared by the Civil Service Commission (CSC). As of now, tentative schedule is that 14th October till 17th October 2013 will be the Eid holidays corresponding to Monday till Thursday. Sunday, 13th October 2013 will be given a rest day making this a week long or 9 days holiday from 11th Friday till 19th Saturday for Government Sectors.

UPDATE (05/10/2013): Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has announced that 06/10/2013 will be the 1st Day of Zul Hijjah. (Sources: KUNA, Al Arabiya ). Therefore, Arafat Day (9th Zul Hijjah) is 14th October 2013, Monday.

UPDATE (08/10/2013): Kuwait Cabinet declares Sunday, October 13, 2013 as a holiday, officially calling it "REST DAY" making the Eid Al-Adha holidays for 9 days for government sector employees. The private firms are to make the decision by themselves. (Sources: KUNAIndians In Kuwait)

UPDATE (14/10/2013): Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has released information about the different Eid Congregational Prayer Site locations. Assistant Undersecretary for Mosque Affairs, Waleed Shuaib announced that arrangements have been made at 73 locations across Kuwait for the Eid prayers to take place. Break down across the six governorates are as follows:
  1. Asimah (City) : 15 site locations
  2. Mubarak Al-Kabeer : 8
  3. Hawally : 12
  4. Farwaniya : 12
  5. Jahra : 10
  6. Ahmadi : 16
TIMINGS FOR EID Prayers on Tuesday 15/10/2013 ~ 10/12/1434 (10th Zul Hijjah 1424 corresponding to 15th October 2013) in Eid Prayer locations and in masjids in general at 6:05 am Kuwait Local Time. (15 minutes after Sunrise)
Fajr : 4:29 am
Sunrise : 5:49 am
Eid Prayers : 6:05 am
NOTE/EXCEPTIONS: Some masjids which have permission from the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to hold prayers a little later. These masjids are mostly the ones having after Eid Prayer Khutbah / Sermons in languages like Urdu, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Filipino and many others. One needs to find out from these masjids the Eid prayer times. 

Below is the detail list of locations where the Eid prayers will take place. In Arabic and English. (Photo Courtesy to Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and also to Kuwait Upto Date and Enlightenment into Islam Center)
Eid Prayer locations across Kuwait (in Arabic)

List of EID prayer location across Kuwait (In English)
Tips for Eid Al-Adha ( Courtesy to Islamic Online University )