Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court announced in an official statement on Thursday that Eid Al-Adha will begin on Sunday 11 August, and the Day of Arafah, which precedes the Eid festival, will be on Saturday 10 August.
The Day of Arafah, the climax of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which always falls on the ninth day of Dhu Al Hijja, will fall on Saturday, August 10 at the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The Dhu Al Hijja moon was sighted Thursday. Accordingly, August 11 is the first day of Eid Al Adha.
Eid Al-Adha,which lasts for four days, honours the willingness of the Prophet Abraham tosacrifice his first-born son Ismail as an act of submission to God.
It falls ona different date each year, as the Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles.
On the Day of Arafat, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims will throng Makkah on the second day of the pilgrimage to ascend Mount Arafat, marking the peak point of the five-day Hajj ritual.
On this bigHajj day, pilgrims converged from dawn on the Mount Arafat plain and the hillknown as Jabal Al Rahma, or Mount of Mercy, dedicated to prayers andreflection,
The first day of Eid Al Adha always falls on the 10th day of Dhu Al Hijja, one day after the Arafat Day, according to the Islamic lunar calendar.
