What is Eid al-Fitr?
Eid al-Fitr, often translated as the Festival of Breaking the Fast, marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting from dawn to sunset. It is one of the two main festivals of Islam, and is also called the Lesser Eid. The day begins with a special congregational prayer, often held outdoors or in large mosques, after which families greet each other with Eid Mubarak and visit relatives and friends. Depending on the country, the celebration lasts from one to three days.
Before the Eid prayer every Muslim who can afford it pays zakat al-fitr, a charitable gift to the poor so that everyone can take part in the festival. People wear new or their best clothes, and sweets and festive meals are shared. In Turkey the festival is called Ramazan Bayrami and also Seker Bayrami, the Sugar Feast, because of the sweets offered to visitors. In the Balkans it is known as Bajram, for example Ramazanski bajram in Bosnian.
Why it is observed
According to Muslim tradition the festival was instituted by the Prophet Muhammad after his migration to Medina, once fasting in Ramadan had become an obligation. The Islamic calendar is lunar: each month begins with the sighting of the new crescent and has 29 or 30 days. A year of about 354 days means that Ramadan and the two Eids move back through the seasons, completing a cycle in roughly 33 years. Some countries rely on local moon sighting and others on astronomical calculation, so the date can differ by a day between countries and communities. Dates published in advance are therefore estimates until the moon is sighted.
How the date is set
Eid al-Fitr is the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, the day after the month of Ramadan ends. Because the lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, the date moves earlier by about 10 to 11 days each year in the civil calendar. The exact day depends on the sighting or calculation of the new moon.
How it is observed
Eid al-Fitr is a public holiday in most Muslim-majority countries and, among others, in Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. In Turkey the holiday lasts three days and is preceded by a half-day on the eve (arife), and it is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, with crowded intercity buses and flights. Banks, offices and schools close. Because the date is confirmed only shortly beforehand, advance dates can shift by a day. Pay and time off depend on the country and the contract.
Sources
Albania
Bosnia & Herzegovina
North Macedonia
Türkiye