APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, GAZA - 07 June 2019. Palestinians enjoy the beach of the Mediterranean sea during the Eid al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Gaza city.
STORYLINE - Eid al-Fitr also called the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (ṣawm). This religious Eid (Muslim religious festival) is the first and only day in the month of Shawwal during which Muslims are not permitted to fast. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. The day of Eid, therefore, falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal. The date for the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities, so the exact day of celebration varies by locality.
Eid al-Fitr has a particular salat (Islamic prayer) consisting of two rakats (units) and generally offered in an open field or large hall. It may be performed only in congregation (jamāʿat) and has an additional extra six Takbirs (raising of the hands to the ears while saying "Allāhu ʾAkbar" which means "God is the greatest"), three of them in the beginning of the first raka'ah and three of them just before rukūʿ in the second raka'ah in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam.
Footage by Ashraf Amra /APAwire