Eid al-Fitrਈਦ ਅਲ-ਫਿਤਰ

After a month of rising before dawn and fasting until sunset, the end of Ramadan is met with one of the two great festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast, is a day built for joy: prayers in the open air, tables of sweets, new clothes, embraces, and children counting their eidi money. Its name holds its meaning: fitr is the breaking of the fast, and the festival belongs not to private relief but to the whole community, which is why charity comes before celebration, so that nobody is left out of the feast.

What is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr is the first of the two annual Eids of Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month that follows Ramadan in the Islamic lunar calendar. Because the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the solar year, Eid moves through the seasons, coming earlier each Gregorian year. Muslims hold that the fast of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of their faith, earns its reward on this day, and that Eid is a day of gratitude, forgiveness and reunion: quarrels are set aside, graves of elders may be visited, and doors are opened to guests.

Chaand Raat: the night the moon is sighted

The festival begins the night before, when the thin crescent of the Shawwal moon is sighted and announced. In South Asia this is Chaand Raat, the night of the moon: bazaars stay open late, women and girls decorate their hands with henna, bangles are bought, and kitchens start on the sweets. Mosques and moon-sighting committees confirm the moon, and where the sky is cloudy the announcement itself becomes the evening's news, in Punjab relayed from mosque loudspeakers and television alike.

Zakat al-Fitr: no one is left out of the feast

Before the Eid prayer, every Muslim who is able must give Zakat al-Fitr, also called fitrana. Traditionally it is a measure of staple food, about two kilograms of wheat, barley, dates or the local staple, for each member of the household, or its value in cash. It is paid early enough, often during the last days of Ramadan, for the poor to buy what they need for Eid. The purpose is plain: the fast that taught sympathy for the hungry ends by feeding them, and the festival is only complete when the poorest household can celebrate too. Mosques in Punjab collect and distribute fitrana in their neighbourhoods, as they do from Toronto to London in the diaspora.

The morning of Eid

On Eid morning it is customary to bathe, wear one's best clothes, often new, and eat something sweet before leaving, a small breakfast that marks the first daytime meal in a month. Then the community gathers for Salat al-Eid, the special Eid prayer, held in large mosques and, where crowds demand, in open Eidgahs and grounds. The prayer is followed by a sermon, and then by the festival's warmest ritual: row upon row of people embracing and greeting one another with Eid Mubarak. The rest of the day belongs to visiting: elders are called on first, children collect eidi, money gifts from relatives, and kitchens serve guests all day.

Sheer khurma, sevaiyan and eidi: Eid in South Asia

In Punjab and across South Asia, Eid al-Fitr has a taste, and it is sweet. Sheer khurma, vermicelli cooked in milk with dates, almonds, pistachios and cardamom, is the dish of the day, prepared in the morning and offered to every visitor; its simpler sister, sweet sevaiyan, is made in most homes. The festival's other name, the Sweet Eid, comes from tables like these. Children dress up early because eidi rewards the dressed: elders press notes into small hands, and the money is spent on toys and bazaars the same day. In Pakistani Punjab the celebrations stretch over public holidays, with families travelling between Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and their villages.

Eid al-Fitr in Punjab

In Indian Punjab the centre of Eid is Malerkotla, the state's only Muslim-majority town, whose Eidgah, set among canals and meadows and reckoned among the most beautiful in the region, fills with worshippers from the town and surrounding villages. In 2022 the Punjab chief minister joined the Eid prayers at the Malerkotla Idgah, a sign of the town's place in the state's life. Malerkotla is known for shared festivals: through Ramadan its Sikh and Hindu neighbours host iftar meals, and Eid gatherings there draw the whole town. Smaller congregations meet in the mosques of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala, and Punjabi Muslims in Canada, Britain and the United States keep the same day at their local mosques, with sheer khurma on the table far from home.

When is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr falls on 1 Shawwal each Islamic year, its Gregorian date set by the sighting of the new moon that ends Ramadan. Because the lunar year is shorter, the festival moves about eleven days earlier each year and can fall in any season. In 2026 it fell around 20 March in most countries. Public holidays are declared in India and Pakistan, and in Punjab government offices and schools close for the day.