Eid Al Adha 2025 holiday announced for private sector
Employees will be granted leave from Thursday to Sunday, June 5 to 8, with work resuming on Monday, June 9.
The public holiday, announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, corresponds with the break given to public sector employees.
Public and private sector staff in the Emirates are typically allocated the same number of public holidays each year.
The UAE on Tuesday confirmed that Eid Al Adha would begin on Friday, June 6, after the crescent moon heralding the start of a new Islamic month was observed.
What is Eid Al Adha?
Eid Al Adha – which means 'festival of the sacrifice' – is the latter of the two Eid holidays celebrated across the Arab world, coming after Eid Al Fitr.
Eid Al Adha commemorates how the Prophet Ibrahim was asked by God in a dream to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as a test of his faith.
As with other religious holidays in the Emirates, it is a time for friends and family to gather, often over meals, and reflect on their lives and faith.
It is customary for families who have the means to slaughter a goat or sheep and share the meat with relatives and the less privileged.
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I hear stories of the architects who stepped in to ensure it was restored just as it was. But I feel guilt five years on, dwelling on that day. With the ongoing genocide of Palestinians a few hundred kilometers away, with the destruction wrought on Lebanon by Israel in the past two years, with the sectarian violence in Syria. The list goes on. It feels strange to carry August 4 as my trauma. I lost nothing that day. After all was said and done, I was lucky that day. But it is trauma, laced now with shame. Because others lost everything. 220 people died. Thousands were maimed. The city was broken. We have a Lebanese habit of not really reflecting. A lot of our trauma is not post-traumatic, because we are still in the phase of being traumatised. It is tempting to say 'that was five years ago and many horrible things have happened to us and others around us in that time". All of that is true. But avoiding trauma – and the systemic dysfunction that led to it – is not a solution. 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